“If it makes you feel any better, Thursday is no longer cruciferous vegetable night.”
-Sheldon
“The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification,” like last week’s episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” didn’t exactly have a lot of substance. It had a heck of a lot of laughs, though. Okay, I admit, a lot of the laughs were cheap laughs from flatulence humor, but the episode was damn funny. Yes, there are times when I don’t mind indulging in more childish humor. At least the humor, although aiming for a lowest common denominator, was character based. Specifically, most of the humor came from Sheldon’s desire to achieve immortality. As his intellect is God’s gift to humanity, he couldn’t possibly deprive the world of the chance to have that intellect forever. Thus the episode opens with Sheldon furiously scribbling on multiple white boards, trying to calculate when exactly he is going to die.
Sheldon is concerned because according to his calculations, he is going to die shortly before the invention of technology that would allow him to transfer his consciousness into a robot. Even when he takes out an uncle’s untimely death by badger, it still doesn’t look like he’s going to quite make it. Sheldon has this whole, detailed plan of what the future will be like, down to a new creature called the “dogapus,” and he doesn’t want to miss it. To try and beat the odds, Sheldon decides he’s going to live a healthier lifestyle. It’s pizza night at the apartment, and while the rest of the gang is chowing down on the cheesy goodness, Sheldon has decided it’s cruciferous vegetable night. He’s eating Brussels sprouts. This scene also begins a very minor side plot about how Leonard is still paying for a lot of stuff for Penny, including most of her dinners. Penny says she wants to start paying, but she’s still broke, so she just runs up a tab and the rest of the guys laugh and Leonard for still being so whipped. Penny’s tab is up to $1,400.00 by the end of the episode.
Anyway, when Sheldon mentions that part of his plan to beat-the-odds is to start jogging, Raj mentions (via whispering to Howard), that Penny jogs too, so they should jog together. Apparently Raj has been stalking Penny with binoculars. I think this is an instance where characterization is stretched too far for the sake of a joke. Sure, we know Raj is super awkward around women, but he’s never been creepy before. Heck, when he was using a telescope at one point last season, he wasn’t spying on women in other apartments. He was watching “The Good Wife.” Up until now, he’s been socially inept but completely harmless. I don’t like this change, although considering it’s a Chuck Lorre show, he’ll probably be back to the loveable guy we all know soon enough.
Later that night, Sheldon knock’s on Leonard’s door, but instead of the usual “Leonard” after three knocks, all we hear are groans. Sheldon has abdominal pain, and his internet research has turned up a host of horrible things that could be causing it. Leonard suggests the much more realistic possibility of appendicitis, which causes Sheldon to go on a huge rant about how his appendix, a vestigial organ, is going to kill him. Turns out it wasn’t even appendicitis, though. It was just gas pains from the cruciferous vegetables. Luckily, Sheldon figured this out before going to the hospital. Wouldn’t want to incur a several hundred dollar ER bill for gas.
Soon enough, it’s time for Sheldon to start his jogging program with Penny. To say he’s inept at it would be an understatement. He can’t even follow along when Penny does her pre-run stretches. They start to job down the stairs, and we can hear Sheldon fall off camera. We can also hear that he farts again. I’m mildly embarrassed to admit that at this point in the episode, I was laughing hysterically. Especially when Sheldon says the Quote of the Episode about how Thursday is no longer cruciferous vegetable night.
Sheldon is really shaken up over his recent health scares and accidents, so one night when the gag is dividing up Indian food for dinner, in rolls a robot with a TV screen for a head. On the TV screen is Sheldon’s face of course. He calls it his “Mobile Virtual Presence Device.” The idea is that Sheldon can stay safe in his bed while the robot does all the tasks Sheldon once had to do in the outside world. This makes Sheldon even more obnoxious than usual, believe it or not. Sheldon invokes an obscure clause in the Roommate Agreement to force Leonard to drive the device to work. On the way Sheldon wants to play games, and it seems like he’s really proud of the fact that he’s come up with graphics to display on this screen to go with all the games. Once at the university, Leonard is completely fed up and refuses to open Sheldon’s office door for him (the mobile device doesn’t have arms). Silly Raj ends up opening it instead, because he was unaware of how obnoxious Sheldon had been up to that point.
The gang finds themselves at the Cheesecake Factory, as they often do, except that once again, the mobile device is there instead of the actual Sheldon. Penny is getting exasperated with Sheldon’s demands for food when he isn’t even actually at the restaurant when the guys spot Steve Wozniak at a nearby table. There’s a funny little joke about how Penny knows who Woz is because of Dancing With the Starts. Sheldon rolls his device over to Woz to introduce himself, and he tells Woz about an old Apple II computer he still has. Sheldon wants to get the computer autographed, and Woz agrees. It turns out this is what it takes to get Sheldon to give up the mobile device. He hightails it out of his apartment as quick as he can, and he once again falls down the stairs. The tag of the episode shows once again virtual Sheldon demanding that Penny sing “Soft Kitty” to him.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
No Ordinary Family 1.01: "Pilot"
“I have a lair. With wi-fi!”
-Jim
“No Ordinary Family” is the one new show I’ll be covering this fall. It was either this or “Lone Star,” and while I found “Lone Star” to be the superior pilot, I’m thinking I made the right choice from a longevity stand point (a quick moment of silence for “Lone Star,” first casualty of the new TV season). That being said, I think “No Ordinary Family” has potential, and that’s exciting because I so want to see genre succeed on network television. Yep, if you’ve been living under a rock, “No Ordinary Family” is definitely genre. The superhero variety of genre, to be exact. This seems to be the new genre well that the powers that be in entertainment want to tap, as we’ll also be getting “The Cape” at mid-season. Anyway, I think that “No Ordinary Family” has potential because it’s a fun premise combined with at least a few well-drawn characters (some annoying characters too, but I’m choosing to let the good outweigh the bad for now).
We open on a hectic morning in the life of the very dysfunctional Powell family. Stephanie Powell, successful research scientist, is taking a trip to Brazil, and her husband, failed artist turned police sketch artist Jim, has decided they should make a family trip of it. The two teenagers of the family, Daphne and J.J., are less than thrilled about the idea. Daphne is afraid it will cut into time with her boyfriend, Lucas, and J.J. is just generally emo and ornery. Things don’t go much better when the family actually gets to Brazil. Jim wants everyone to go on a sunset tour of the rainforest together, and amidst much complaining, he gets his wish. It doesn’t go at all as planned. There’s a huge storm, and the plane goes down in the water (as Daphne is still texting, of course). The Powells survive the crash, but their pilot doesn’t.
The trauma leads the Powells to vow to be closer to one another, but it doesn’t last long. Jim is still lonely because Stephanie’s success keeps her way from the family so much. I guess he’s also frustrated because his wife has had so much success while he failed at art and had to become a police sketch artist to make ends meet. Jim’s fortune starts to change, however, one day when he’s at work. He had just finished up talking to a witness to a recent crime wave of guys in President Obama masks robbing jewelry stores when somebody in the station pulls a gun and fires. Nobody gets hurt, but Jim looks really shaken up. He rushes out of the station, opens his hand, and we see that he grabbed and held onto the bullet.
Jim’s first reaction to his newfound powers is to drag his friend, George the DA, to the batting cages for a little experimentation. I liked this part of the episode because I found it to be realistic on an emotional level. Getting superpowers is just the kind of thing you would tell your best friend, and George’s reactions are all genuine and amusing. I think George is my favorite character on the show. He gets a lot of good snarky lines, and it’s nice to see how excited he is and how supportive he is of his friend. He also has a heck of a lot of free time for a lawyer. At the end of their batting cage session, Jim asks George to shoot him so he can test his bullet catching skills again, but George refuses. The gun accidentally goes off, and George is on the ground. Passed out from the shock of Jim catching another bullet. It’s great comedy.
Stephanie, meanwhile, has gotten back to the grind of trying to balance work and family life and not at all succeeding. She begins her work day pitching the idea of researching a plant she found in Brazil to the lab’s board of directors. Despite a coworker who was so snooty about the whole thing as to be a caricature, Stephanie impresses the chairman of the board. She ends up having to cancel her planed date night with Jim because the chairman is flying in just to talk about her research, and she and her boss need to meet the chairman for drinks. Stephanie is a little confused when Jim doesn’t seem all that upset that she’s cancelling. Turns out he’s busy with George. They’re trying to figure out if Jim can fly. He can’t, but he certainly can jump. Anyway, when Stephanie is told that she’s running late for her meeting with the chairman, Stephanie begins jogging to her car. This turns into seemingly supersonic running, and when she finally slows down, Stephanie finds herself in the middle of a highway. She’s got super speed, and she’s thrilled to have possibly found a way to finally do everything she feels she needs to fit into her day.
Much like Jim, Stephanie wants to test the extent of her powers. She enlists the help of her lab tech, Katie. They do all sorts of very scientific experiments and determine that Stephanie does indeed have the ability to run at super speed without injury, and she also has extremely elevated metabolism. Lucky her. Stephanie wants to use her powers to make time to spend with her family. She starts by rushing home to help J.J. with his homework. Jim, predictably, wants to use his powers to fight crime. He’s got a police scanner in the car and everything. He gets a call from George that another Obama mask robbery is taking place. Jim leaps buildings “in a single bound,” as he likes to say, and arrives on the scene. He stops one of the Obama mask guys, but the second one shoots him in the head. In shock, Jim calls George for help.
Jim wakes up at home in bed, and George reveals that he told Stephanie everything. To Jim’s surprise, Stephanie believes it all and is not at all shocked. She reveals to Jim her own secret superpower, and she’s got a theory about what happened to them. Stephanie says she remembers that when they crashed, the water had a phosphorescence. She thought it was fuel from the plane at the time, but now she thinks it’s the cause of their abilities. Jim and Stephanie call a family meeting to discuss the situation. It turns out Daphne is telepathic. A mean girl at school was honing in on Daphne’s boyfriend Lucas, and one day at a basketball game, Daphne starts to hear the mean girl’s thoughts. She thinks about how stupid Daphne is because she doesn’t see what’s going on. Daphne is overwhelmed by all the voices in her head. It reminds me very much of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episode “Earshot.” J.J., meanwhile, is bummed that he doesn’t seem to have a special ability. Daphne pitches a fit about how their family is broken and her parents were just looking for superpowers to fix everything, and the meeting ends abruptly.
Jim, still trying to be useful, gives the detectives he works with a lead on the suspect in the Obama mask case, just telling them a “witness” described the suspect to him. He seems kind of bummed when his detective friend says he can’t come along, but after they leave, he decides to go along anyway. The detectives had gone to question the suspect’s ex-girlfriend, but while they’re visiting, the suspect arrives. There’s a big shootout, and Jim’s detective friend is taken hostage. The bad guy escapes with the detective to a parking garage, and that’s where Jim finds him. Turns out the other guy has superpowers, too. It looks like he sort of disintegrates and rematerializes at will. Jim has quite a bit of trouble dealing with him, and it’s the detective finally breaking out of the car trunk and shooting the bad guy that saves the day.
The episode ends with some interesting bits of family drama and one intriguing cliffhanger. Daphne’s telepathic powers allow her to find out that Lucas has been cheating on her with her best friend Emily. J.J. does have a superpower after all. He’s super smart. Have I mentioned that I find the adult characters much more well drawn than the kids in this show? Really, the kids are just plain annoying, while the adults are genuinely interesting to watch. Stephanie tells Jim he was a great man before he had superpowers, and she would really rather he didn’t fight crime anymore. George lures Jim back to the dark side, though, buy building him a pretty sweet lair. Jim and Stephanie decide to go to couples therapy, which is where the bits of narration that were used as a framing device for the episode came from. I’m kind of hoping that goes away when we get to the regular episodes. We finish off the episode with a bit of a conspiracy. Stephanie’s boss and some minions are standing around the dead body of the Obama mask guy, and Stephanie’s boss gives the order to kill whoever knows about the man’s powers.
-Jim
“No Ordinary Family” is the one new show I’ll be covering this fall. It was either this or “Lone Star,” and while I found “Lone Star” to be the superior pilot, I’m thinking I made the right choice from a longevity stand point (a quick moment of silence for “Lone Star,” first casualty of the new TV season). That being said, I think “No Ordinary Family” has potential, and that’s exciting because I so want to see genre succeed on network television. Yep, if you’ve been living under a rock, “No Ordinary Family” is definitely genre. The superhero variety of genre, to be exact. This seems to be the new genre well that the powers that be in entertainment want to tap, as we’ll also be getting “The Cape” at mid-season. Anyway, I think that “No Ordinary Family” has potential because it’s a fun premise combined with at least a few well-drawn characters (some annoying characters too, but I’m choosing to let the good outweigh the bad for now).
We open on a hectic morning in the life of the very dysfunctional Powell family. Stephanie Powell, successful research scientist, is taking a trip to Brazil, and her husband, failed artist turned police sketch artist Jim, has decided they should make a family trip of it. The two teenagers of the family, Daphne and J.J., are less than thrilled about the idea. Daphne is afraid it will cut into time with her boyfriend, Lucas, and J.J. is just generally emo and ornery. Things don’t go much better when the family actually gets to Brazil. Jim wants everyone to go on a sunset tour of the rainforest together, and amidst much complaining, he gets his wish. It doesn’t go at all as planned. There’s a huge storm, and the plane goes down in the water (as Daphne is still texting, of course). The Powells survive the crash, but their pilot doesn’t.
The trauma leads the Powells to vow to be closer to one another, but it doesn’t last long. Jim is still lonely because Stephanie’s success keeps her way from the family so much. I guess he’s also frustrated because his wife has had so much success while he failed at art and had to become a police sketch artist to make ends meet. Jim’s fortune starts to change, however, one day when he’s at work. He had just finished up talking to a witness to a recent crime wave of guys in President Obama masks robbing jewelry stores when somebody in the station pulls a gun and fires. Nobody gets hurt, but Jim looks really shaken up. He rushes out of the station, opens his hand, and we see that he grabbed and held onto the bullet.
Jim’s first reaction to his newfound powers is to drag his friend, George the DA, to the batting cages for a little experimentation. I liked this part of the episode because I found it to be realistic on an emotional level. Getting superpowers is just the kind of thing you would tell your best friend, and George’s reactions are all genuine and amusing. I think George is my favorite character on the show. He gets a lot of good snarky lines, and it’s nice to see how excited he is and how supportive he is of his friend. He also has a heck of a lot of free time for a lawyer. At the end of their batting cage session, Jim asks George to shoot him so he can test his bullet catching skills again, but George refuses. The gun accidentally goes off, and George is on the ground. Passed out from the shock of Jim catching another bullet. It’s great comedy.
Stephanie, meanwhile, has gotten back to the grind of trying to balance work and family life and not at all succeeding. She begins her work day pitching the idea of researching a plant she found in Brazil to the lab’s board of directors. Despite a coworker who was so snooty about the whole thing as to be a caricature, Stephanie impresses the chairman of the board. She ends up having to cancel her planed date night with Jim because the chairman is flying in just to talk about her research, and she and her boss need to meet the chairman for drinks. Stephanie is a little confused when Jim doesn’t seem all that upset that she’s cancelling. Turns out he’s busy with George. They’re trying to figure out if Jim can fly. He can’t, but he certainly can jump. Anyway, when Stephanie is told that she’s running late for her meeting with the chairman, Stephanie begins jogging to her car. This turns into seemingly supersonic running, and when she finally slows down, Stephanie finds herself in the middle of a highway. She’s got super speed, and she’s thrilled to have possibly found a way to finally do everything she feels she needs to fit into her day.
Much like Jim, Stephanie wants to test the extent of her powers. She enlists the help of her lab tech, Katie. They do all sorts of very scientific experiments and determine that Stephanie does indeed have the ability to run at super speed without injury, and she also has extremely elevated metabolism. Lucky her. Stephanie wants to use her powers to make time to spend with her family. She starts by rushing home to help J.J. with his homework. Jim, predictably, wants to use his powers to fight crime. He’s got a police scanner in the car and everything. He gets a call from George that another Obama mask robbery is taking place. Jim leaps buildings “in a single bound,” as he likes to say, and arrives on the scene. He stops one of the Obama mask guys, but the second one shoots him in the head. In shock, Jim calls George for help.
Jim wakes up at home in bed, and George reveals that he told Stephanie everything. To Jim’s surprise, Stephanie believes it all and is not at all shocked. She reveals to Jim her own secret superpower, and she’s got a theory about what happened to them. Stephanie says she remembers that when they crashed, the water had a phosphorescence. She thought it was fuel from the plane at the time, but now she thinks it’s the cause of their abilities. Jim and Stephanie call a family meeting to discuss the situation. It turns out Daphne is telepathic. A mean girl at school was honing in on Daphne’s boyfriend Lucas, and one day at a basketball game, Daphne starts to hear the mean girl’s thoughts. She thinks about how stupid Daphne is because she doesn’t see what’s going on. Daphne is overwhelmed by all the voices in her head. It reminds me very much of the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episode “Earshot.” J.J., meanwhile, is bummed that he doesn’t seem to have a special ability. Daphne pitches a fit about how their family is broken and her parents were just looking for superpowers to fix everything, and the meeting ends abruptly.
Jim, still trying to be useful, gives the detectives he works with a lead on the suspect in the Obama mask case, just telling them a “witness” described the suspect to him. He seems kind of bummed when his detective friend says he can’t come along, but after they leave, he decides to go along anyway. The detectives had gone to question the suspect’s ex-girlfriend, but while they’re visiting, the suspect arrives. There’s a big shootout, and Jim’s detective friend is taken hostage. The bad guy escapes with the detective to a parking garage, and that’s where Jim finds him. Turns out the other guy has superpowers, too. It looks like he sort of disintegrates and rematerializes at will. Jim has quite a bit of trouble dealing with him, and it’s the detective finally breaking out of the car trunk and shooting the bad guy that saves the day.
The episode ends with some interesting bits of family drama and one intriguing cliffhanger. Daphne’s telepathic powers allow her to find out that Lucas has been cheating on her with her best friend Emily. J.J. does have a superpower after all. He’s super smart. Have I mentioned that I find the adult characters much more well drawn than the kids in this show? Really, the kids are just plain annoying, while the adults are genuinely interesting to watch. Stephanie tells Jim he was a great man before he had superpowers, and she would really rather he didn’t fight crime anymore. George lures Jim back to the dark side, though, buy building him a pretty sweet lair. Jim and Stephanie decide to go to couples therapy, which is where the bits of narration that were used as a framing device for the episode came from. I’m kind of hoping that goes away when we get to the regular episodes. We finish off the episode with a bit of a conspiracy. Stephanie’s boss and some minions are standing around the dead body of the Obama mask guy, and Stephanie’s boss gives the order to kill whoever knows about the man’s powers.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Glee 2.02: "Britney/Brittany"
“I’m actually kind of happy about it. Now I don’t have to fantasize about what song I’d sing at your bedside if you were in a coma.”
-Rachel
“Britney/Brittany,” the much-hyped Britney Spears tribute episode of “Glee,” didn’t quite live up to the advertisement. The episode ranged from mildly entertaining to bizarre, and not in a good way. One thing I thought was positive was the way that the Britney songs fit into the episode. I thought it was much more organic and creative than both the Madonna and Lady Gaga episodes last season. We also got the introduction of John Stamos’ character, Carl the dentist. That I didn’t like so much because if there’s one thing I don’t like on my television shows, it’s deliberate, artificial blocks to popular romantic pairings. It’s clear he’s just there to keep Will and Emma apart for a while, and I think Will and Emma have the potential to be pretty darn adorable, so I wish we’d get there sooner rather than later.
The episode opens at a glee club rehearsal with Will giving the kids their assignment for the week. He wants them to try easy listening, adult contemporary-type songs, and understandably, the kids are not enthused. Heck, I think it’s pretty lame, too. Kurt in particular wants to sing some Britney Spears, but Will doesn’t approve. Brittany doesn’t like the idea, either. Her full name is Brittany S. Pearce, and apparently because their names are so close, she feels like she’s lived in Britney’s shadow her whole life. Most of the rest of the kids seem in favor of Britney, though. They mention that they “grew up” with her. Which I guess is sort of true, although I think they might have been a little young when he first reached stardom. I was a teenager myself.
Will discusses the situation with Emma, who finds Britney to be admirable because of her comeback. Can they ever have one of these tribute episodes where every character doesn’t constantly suck up to the artist? It’s quite anvilicious. Anyway, Carl drops by while Will and Emma are having their chat, and a bit of a rivalry develops. Emma mentions that Carl wants to do a presentation on dental hygiene at school, and Will says he can talk to the glee club. As part of his presentation, Carl gives the kids those tablets that show you where on your teeth you need to brush better. Brittany’s teeth are the worst out the group. Apparently she rinses with Dr. Pepper instead of brushing. Gross.
Brittany winds up paying a visit to Carl’s office, and she has so many cavities that Carl puts her under anesthesia to do the work. Britney Spears music is playing as Brittany goes under, and she has a crazy hallucination where she is Britney. She sings and dances to “I’m a Slave 4 U,” but instead of mimicking the video, she rocks three iconic Britney looks. There’s the red cat suit from “Oops I Did it Again,” the green outfit with snake look from a live performance of “Slave 4 U,” and there’s the sparkly look from “Toxic.” Yeah, I know a lot about Britney, even though I wouldn’t really even say I’m a fan. I watched a lot of TRL in high school, what can I say?
Most of the Britney performances in the episode are dental anesthesia induced. Brittany brings Santana with her on one visit, and they simultaneously hallucinate a recreation of “Me Against the Music. Rachel hallucinates an especially impressive (in its attention to detail) recreation of “Baby One More Time.” Artie performs “Stronger.” I thought that was kind of ironic since Britney spends most of the “Stronger” video dancing with a chair. On all these performances, I think I found Heather Morris’ work mst impressive, because she is such an extremely talented dancer. Most of the rest I could take or leave, even though I was intrigued by the authenticity of some of the video recreations.
The episode overall was really all about defiantly being who you are. Finn’s still dealing with all the fallout from being kicked off the football team. Two football players take his letter jacket and tear it in two. The only thing that saves Finn from a beatdown is Artie wheeling himself in between Finn and the other boys. Apparently hitting a guy in a wheelchair is a line that the football bullies won’t cross. Rachel, however, is happy Finn is off the team. She feels like she doesn’t have to worry about him so much anymore. Finn gets his own set of relationship worries when Rachel, inspired by her hallucination, starts dressing like Britney and getting a lot of attention from guys. Neither of them feel safe with the other anymore.
Coach Beiste happens to see Finn and Artie being bullied, and I guess she does have a bit of a soft spot, because she lets them both on the team. That was just really freaking random. I’m usually cool with suspending disbelief with “Glee” because it’s a heightened reality, but letting Artie on the team really makes no sense. Rachel changes back t her old style f dress to make Finn happy, and she gets upset when he doesn’t reciprocate by declining the offer to be on the football team. Rachel actually tests Finn by having Quinn go up to him and act like she wants to get back together. Finn passes with flying colors of course.
Meanwhile, the clamoring to do a Britney number reaches fever pitch as each of the kids start finding inspiration through her music. Even Brittany wants to do a Britney number now, claiming that the Britney hallucination helped her see how talented she truly is. Will is still against it though, and Kurt gets in trouble for a particularly bratty response to the decision. Sue has a confab with Will and lets him know that she has heard New Directions might be performing a Britney number at an upcoming pep rally. Because of an incident that involved her finding Jacob Ben Isreal watching performances to Britney songs naked (really random and gross), she urges Will not to let a Britney number happen. She thinks Britney’s music has the power to make people lose control.
Will goes to Carl for some dental work, and they get into a bit of an argument over Emma. Carl tells Will he needs to loosen up. He thinks Will and Emma didn’t work because they were too similar. Carl is more spontaneous, and he tells Will the story of a time he bought a sports car. Will doesn’t quite understand the lesson. He tries buying the exact same sports car and using that to impress Emma. They’re sitting in the car, “Sailing” comes on, and Will happily yells “That’s my jam!” Hate to tell you, Will, but when you play “That’s My Jam,” you don’t choose an easy listening song. That’s just lame. Anyway, if that wasn’t bad enough, Terri arrives to make things worse. She’s upset Will bought the car, because she’s worried he won’t have enough money to send her spousal support. Emma runs off upset.
In his next bid to be more spontaneous, Will tells the glee kids that they’re going to do a Britney number for the pep rally, and he’s going to perform with them. It’s a disaster, as Sue predicted. The group performs “Toxic,” and while Will’s dance moves were pretty hot, the whole thing was really awkward and ends up with a huge riot in the gym. I think my high school principal would have spontaneously combusted had something like that happened at one of our pep rallies. Heck, we’d even get an “I’m disappointed in you” lecture over the PA system on the rare occasion that a food fight broke out in the cafeteria. Sue, being the drama queen she is, threatens a lawsuit over injuries she sustained in the stampede out of the gym. The episode ends on a calmer note, though. Rachel sings Paramore’s “The Only Exception,” one of my absolute favorite songs on the radio right now, as an apology to Finn.
-Rachel
“Britney/Brittany,” the much-hyped Britney Spears tribute episode of “Glee,” didn’t quite live up to the advertisement. The episode ranged from mildly entertaining to bizarre, and not in a good way. One thing I thought was positive was the way that the Britney songs fit into the episode. I thought it was much more organic and creative than both the Madonna and Lady Gaga episodes last season. We also got the introduction of John Stamos’ character, Carl the dentist. That I didn’t like so much because if there’s one thing I don’t like on my television shows, it’s deliberate, artificial blocks to popular romantic pairings. It’s clear he’s just there to keep Will and Emma apart for a while, and I think Will and Emma have the potential to be pretty darn adorable, so I wish we’d get there sooner rather than later.
The episode opens at a glee club rehearsal with Will giving the kids their assignment for the week. He wants them to try easy listening, adult contemporary-type songs, and understandably, the kids are not enthused. Heck, I think it’s pretty lame, too. Kurt in particular wants to sing some Britney Spears, but Will doesn’t approve. Brittany doesn’t like the idea, either. Her full name is Brittany S. Pearce, and apparently because their names are so close, she feels like she’s lived in Britney’s shadow her whole life. Most of the rest of the kids seem in favor of Britney, though. They mention that they “grew up” with her. Which I guess is sort of true, although I think they might have been a little young when he first reached stardom. I was a teenager myself.
Will discusses the situation with Emma, who finds Britney to be admirable because of her comeback. Can they ever have one of these tribute episodes where every character doesn’t constantly suck up to the artist? It’s quite anvilicious. Anyway, Carl drops by while Will and Emma are having their chat, and a bit of a rivalry develops. Emma mentions that Carl wants to do a presentation on dental hygiene at school, and Will says he can talk to the glee club. As part of his presentation, Carl gives the kids those tablets that show you where on your teeth you need to brush better. Brittany’s teeth are the worst out the group. Apparently she rinses with Dr. Pepper instead of brushing. Gross.
Brittany winds up paying a visit to Carl’s office, and she has so many cavities that Carl puts her under anesthesia to do the work. Britney Spears music is playing as Brittany goes under, and she has a crazy hallucination where she is Britney. She sings and dances to “I’m a Slave 4 U,” but instead of mimicking the video, she rocks three iconic Britney looks. There’s the red cat suit from “Oops I Did it Again,” the green outfit with snake look from a live performance of “Slave 4 U,” and there’s the sparkly look from “Toxic.” Yeah, I know a lot about Britney, even though I wouldn’t really even say I’m a fan. I watched a lot of TRL in high school, what can I say?
Most of the Britney performances in the episode are dental anesthesia induced. Brittany brings Santana with her on one visit, and they simultaneously hallucinate a recreation of “Me Against the Music. Rachel hallucinates an especially impressive (in its attention to detail) recreation of “Baby One More Time.” Artie performs “Stronger.” I thought that was kind of ironic since Britney spends most of the “Stronger” video dancing with a chair. On all these performances, I think I found Heather Morris’ work mst impressive, because she is such an extremely talented dancer. Most of the rest I could take or leave, even though I was intrigued by the authenticity of some of the video recreations.
The episode overall was really all about defiantly being who you are. Finn’s still dealing with all the fallout from being kicked off the football team. Two football players take his letter jacket and tear it in two. The only thing that saves Finn from a beatdown is Artie wheeling himself in between Finn and the other boys. Apparently hitting a guy in a wheelchair is a line that the football bullies won’t cross. Rachel, however, is happy Finn is off the team. She feels like she doesn’t have to worry about him so much anymore. Finn gets his own set of relationship worries when Rachel, inspired by her hallucination, starts dressing like Britney and getting a lot of attention from guys. Neither of them feel safe with the other anymore.
Coach Beiste happens to see Finn and Artie being bullied, and I guess she does have a bit of a soft spot, because she lets them both on the team. That was just really freaking random. I’m usually cool with suspending disbelief with “Glee” because it’s a heightened reality, but letting Artie on the team really makes no sense. Rachel changes back t her old style f dress to make Finn happy, and she gets upset when he doesn’t reciprocate by declining the offer to be on the football team. Rachel actually tests Finn by having Quinn go up to him and act like she wants to get back together. Finn passes with flying colors of course.
Meanwhile, the clamoring to do a Britney number reaches fever pitch as each of the kids start finding inspiration through her music. Even Brittany wants to do a Britney number now, claiming that the Britney hallucination helped her see how talented she truly is. Will is still against it though, and Kurt gets in trouble for a particularly bratty response to the decision. Sue has a confab with Will and lets him know that she has heard New Directions might be performing a Britney number at an upcoming pep rally. Because of an incident that involved her finding Jacob Ben Isreal watching performances to Britney songs naked (really random and gross), she urges Will not to let a Britney number happen. She thinks Britney’s music has the power to make people lose control.
Will goes to Carl for some dental work, and they get into a bit of an argument over Emma. Carl tells Will he needs to loosen up. He thinks Will and Emma didn’t work because they were too similar. Carl is more spontaneous, and he tells Will the story of a time he bought a sports car. Will doesn’t quite understand the lesson. He tries buying the exact same sports car and using that to impress Emma. They’re sitting in the car, “Sailing” comes on, and Will happily yells “That’s my jam!” Hate to tell you, Will, but when you play “That’s My Jam,” you don’t choose an easy listening song. That’s just lame. Anyway, if that wasn’t bad enough, Terri arrives to make things worse. She’s upset Will bought the car, because she’s worried he won’t have enough money to send her spousal support. Emma runs off upset.
In his next bid to be more spontaneous, Will tells the glee kids that they’re going to do a Britney number for the pep rally, and he’s going to perform with them. It’s a disaster, as Sue predicted. The group performs “Toxic,” and while Will’s dance moves were pretty hot, the whole thing was really awkward and ends up with a huge riot in the gym. I think my high school principal would have spontaneously combusted had something like that happened at one of our pep rallies. Heck, we’d even get an “I’m disappointed in you” lecture over the PA system on the rare occasion that a food fight broke out in the cafeteria. Sue, being the drama queen she is, threatens a lawsuit over injuries she sustained in the stampede out of the gym. The episode ends on a calmer note, though. Rachel sings Paramore’s “The Only Exception,” one of my absolute favorite songs on the radio right now, as an apology to Finn.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
HIMYM 6.02: "Cleaning House"
“You guys are adorable. You seriously believe that I, Barney Stinson, can’t talk you into this? I got the Queen to give me a fist bump.”
-Barney
While I don’t think I’d count “Cleaning House” among my favorite episodes of HIMYM overall, I most definitely enjoyed it. We got an interesting exploration of the nature of truth and lies between the lies Loretta Stinson told her sons, Marshall and Lily having a discussion about parenting lies, and Ted and Robin debating how much to tell a blind date. This was the first Barney-centric episode that has really worked for me since Season 4 (with the possible exception of “Of Course” if you consider that Barney-centric), and considering I’m a huge fan of Barney, that’s saying something. The episode centers around the gang helping to pack up Barney’s childhood home because his mom is moving. I was kind of concerned, because the last time the show went to the house of Barney’s mom for an episode, we got “The Stinsons,” arguably one of the worst episodes of the series to date. In fact, before Season 5, I would have said it was the worst episode. I really needn’t have worried, though. I think I’m still a little gun shy after last season, honestly, and every time there’s heart in an episode of this show or Barney acts kind of like a person instead of a caricature, I’m surprised.
The gang is having an evening at MacLaren’s, like they do, and Barney is acting a bit unusual. When asked what’s wrong, Barney reveals that his mother is moving out of his childhood home. He then proceeds to smarmily ask the rest of the gang to help with the process that weekend. They, of course, are not interested at all in spending their weekend that way. There’s some back and forth about whether or not Barney could possibly convince them all to give up their weekend, and we see Barney gearing up to put on quite a show to convince them. There’s a quick cut, and right before the theme music plays, we see the gang all at the Stinson house helping pack. I thought that was a pretty funny way to handle it, really. Barney’s actual pitch couldn’t have been anywhere near as great as the set-up, so this lets us use our imaginations about how exactly Barney convinced his friends to help.
My confidence in this episode started to go up once one of the guest stars appeared. Wayne Brady was back as Barney’s brother, James. He was great back in Season 2’s “Single Stamina,” so I was excited to see him again. We see through a series of flashbacks that Barney and James’ mother was pretty much a compulsive liar. For instance, she told Barney that the coach wanted him off the basketball team because he was so much better than all the other kids, when the opposite was the truth. Also, she once gave him a letter from the “Postmaster General” saying that no one would be at Barney’s birthday party because the invitations got lost in the mail. Barney believed each one of these lies wholeheartedly, and still does when he shows the rest of the gang mementos of those occasions. James, however, sees right through it all. He’ll get caught up on the moment of one of his mother’s lies, but he sees through it within seconds. He grew up; Barney didn’t. This whole discussion of the stories Loretta told lead Marshall and Lily to discuss what they will and won’t tell their children, particularly whether or not they will let their kids believe in Santa. Marshall is for Santa, and Lily is opposed.
Meanwhile, while taking a break from the packing, Robin reads to Ted an e-mail she sent to her friend Liz. She’s setting up Liz and Ted on a blind date, and the e-mail is her description of Ted, which includes kind of explicit descriptions of how good he allegedly is in bed. Ted is worried that Robin is overselling him to Liz, which will only lead to disappointment. Really the only good thing about this plot is that Ted uses “The Karate Kid” as part of his explanation of overselling, and his karate moves were hilarious. Robin’s next attempt undersells. Her third attempt is even worse on the underselling end of the spectrum, and she accidentally sends it to everyone in her address book. By the end of the episode, Ted realizes that not only did Robin oversell him to Liz, she oversold Liz to him. Whatever.
Anyway, Barney and James come across an envelope addressed to a man named Sam. It contains a photo of Barney and James, and on the back of the photo is written “Your son.” Loretta tries to spin another lie to explain the photo, but James doesn’t believe it. Barney does believe it, of course, which makes James kind of go off on him. He tells Barney that Bob Barker is not his father (a call back to the Season 2 episode “Showdown”). The gang goes to see Sam, and I think my favorite scene of the episode takes place right before they knock on Sam’s door. Barney fesses up that he knows Bob Barker isn’t his dad. He also admits that he needs a minute to prepare for the possibility of meeting his father. Neil Patrick Harris really does play the more dramatic, heart-felt Barney moments so well.
The door opens, and it’s Ben Vereen, which makes it pretty clear that Sam is James’ dad. Nevertheless, Barney attaches himself to Sam. Seriously, that’s really the only way to describe it. He reverts to childhood as much as he can. It gives Neil Patrick Harris a chance to show off his physical comedy chops, which is always fun. My favorite part is when he starts running around in circles and gets upset when Sam isn’t watching. Marshall thinks the group should let Barney live in this fantasy for a little while because he’s been through so much. Also hilarious is when James and Sam are at the piano singing “Stand By Me” and Barney keeps cutting in, only to be dragged away by Lily each time. I may just have to go rewatch that sequence right now it’s so funny.
The episode ends with a serious chat between Barney and his mom. Loretta admits that Sam isn’t Barney’s father and offers to tell Barney the truth. Barney suddenly realizes all the lies she told while he was growing up and realizes that most of them were to protect him. He rips up the paper with his dad’s name on it, telling his mom that she’s his dad, too. It’s a sweet moment, although painfully obvious that Barney will be meeting his dad this season. I wonder if this is the beginning of an arc that will make him ready for his probable wedding at the end of the season? Before James knocked on Sam’s door, Barney did say it was “time to grow up.” Before reverting to complete childhood, of course. Interesting stuff.
-Barney
While I don’t think I’d count “Cleaning House” among my favorite episodes of HIMYM overall, I most definitely enjoyed it. We got an interesting exploration of the nature of truth and lies between the lies Loretta Stinson told her sons, Marshall and Lily having a discussion about parenting lies, and Ted and Robin debating how much to tell a blind date. This was the first Barney-centric episode that has really worked for me since Season 4 (with the possible exception of “Of Course” if you consider that Barney-centric), and considering I’m a huge fan of Barney, that’s saying something. The episode centers around the gang helping to pack up Barney’s childhood home because his mom is moving. I was kind of concerned, because the last time the show went to the house of Barney’s mom for an episode, we got “The Stinsons,” arguably one of the worst episodes of the series to date. In fact, before Season 5, I would have said it was the worst episode. I really needn’t have worried, though. I think I’m still a little gun shy after last season, honestly, and every time there’s heart in an episode of this show or Barney acts kind of like a person instead of a caricature, I’m surprised.
The gang is having an evening at MacLaren’s, like they do, and Barney is acting a bit unusual. When asked what’s wrong, Barney reveals that his mother is moving out of his childhood home. He then proceeds to smarmily ask the rest of the gang to help with the process that weekend. They, of course, are not interested at all in spending their weekend that way. There’s some back and forth about whether or not Barney could possibly convince them all to give up their weekend, and we see Barney gearing up to put on quite a show to convince them. There’s a quick cut, and right before the theme music plays, we see the gang all at the Stinson house helping pack. I thought that was a pretty funny way to handle it, really. Barney’s actual pitch couldn’t have been anywhere near as great as the set-up, so this lets us use our imaginations about how exactly Barney convinced his friends to help.
My confidence in this episode started to go up once one of the guest stars appeared. Wayne Brady was back as Barney’s brother, James. He was great back in Season 2’s “Single Stamina,” so I was excited to see him again. We see through a series of flashbacks that Barney and James’ mother was pretty much a compulsive liar. For instance, she told Barney that the coach wanted him off the basketball team because he was so much better than all the other kids, when the opposite was the truth. Also, she once gave him a letter from the “Postmaster General” saying that no one would be at Barney’s birthday party because the invitations got lost in the mail. Barney believed each one of these lies wholeheartedly, and still does when he shows the rest of the gang mementos of those occasions. James, however, sees right through it all. He’ll get caught up on the moment of one of his mother’s lies, but he sees through it within seconds. He grew up; Barney didn’t. This whole discussion of the stories Loretta told lead Marshall and Lily to discuss what they will and won’t tell their children, particularly whether or not they will let their kids believe in Santa. Marshall is for Santa, and Lily is opposed.
Meanwhile, while taking a break from the packing, Robin reads to Ted an e-mail she sent to her friend Liz. She’s setting up Liz and Ted on a blind date, and the e-mail is her description of Ted, which includes kind of explicit descriptions of how good he allegedly is in bed. Ted is worried that Robin is overselling him to Liz, which will only lead to disappointment. Really the only good thing about this plot is that Ted uses “The Karate Kid” as part of his explanation of overselling, and his karate moves were hilarious. Robin’s next attempt undersells. Her third attempt is even worse on the underselling end of the spectrum, and she accidentally sends it to everyone in her address book. By the end of the episode, Ted realizes that not only did Robin oversell him to Liz, she oversold Liz to him. Whatever.
Anyway, Barney and James come across an envelope addressed to a man named Sam. It contains a photo of Barney and James, and on the back of the photo is written “Your son.” Loretta tries to spin another lie to explain the photo, but James doesn’t believe it. Barney does believe it, of course, which makes James kind of go off on him. He tells Barney that Bob Barker is not his father (a call back to the Season 2 episode “Showdown”). The gang goes to see Sam, and I think my favorite scene of the episode takes place right before they knock on Sam’s door. Barney fesses up that he knows Bob Barker isn’t his dad. He also admits that he needs a minute to prepare for the possibility of meeting his father. Neil Patrick Harris really does play the more dramatic, heart-felt Barney moments so well.
The door opens, and it’s Ben Vereen, which makes it pretty clear that Sam is James’ dad. Nevertheless, Barney attaches himself to Sam. Seriously, that’s really the only way to describe it. He reverts to childhood as much as he can. It gives Neil Patrick Harris a chance to show off his physical comedy chops, which is always fun. My favorite part is when he starts running around in circles and gets upset when Sam isn’t watching. Marshall thinks the group should let Barney live in this fantasy for a little while because he’s been through so much. Also hilarious is when James and Sam are at the piano singing “Stand By Me” and Barney keeps cutting in, only to be dragged away by Lily each time. I may just have to go rewatch that sequence right now it’s so funny.
The episode ends with a serious chat between Barney and his mom. Loretta admits that Sam isn’t Barney’s father and offers to tell Barney the truth. Barney suddenly realizes all the lies she told while he was growing up and realizes that most of them were to protect him. He rips up the paper with his dad’s name on it, telling his mom that she’s his dad, too. It’s a sweet moment, although painfully obvious that Barney will be meeting his dad this season. I wonder if this is the beginning of an arc that will make him ready for his probable wedding at the end of the season? Before James knocked on Sam’s door, Barney did say it was “time to grow up.” Before reverting to complete childhood, of course. Interesting stuff.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Fringe 3.01: "Olivia"
“I’m not your daughter. My mother died when I was 14-years-old. This is all wrong. You’re not supposed to be here.”
-Olivia
From an objective standpoint, I can comprehend that “Olivia” was a superior episode of “Fringe.” It had some wonderful, emotional performances, including a memorable guest turn by Andre Royo (Bubbles from “The Wire”). The plot was both intriguing and devastating. Personally, though, I’m unhappy. In general, I find plots involving misunderstandings to be extremely frustrating and not entertaining, and we’ve got a doozy of a misunderstanding here in two universes. It gave Anna Torv absolutely wonderful material to play, but that still didn’t keep me from wanting to constantly scream at all the characters to figure it out already. I can deal with big mythology mysteries like on “Lost” being told in small doses over a long period of time, but with misunderstandings, especially urgent misunderstandings like this one, I get really impatient really quickly. I want my characters to be okay again. Sure that would mean probably going back to the often flawed monster-of-the-week episodes, but that just shows you how frustrated this plotline is already making me.
For the beginning of this season, my understanding is that we’re going to be doing a sort of every-other-episode deal between the two universes. This particular episode takes place mostly on the Other Side. Olivia is still being held captive by Walternate, but what is happening to her is even creepier than the solitary confinement we saw at the end of the Season 2 finale. Olivia is taken to regular therapy where a doctor keeps trying to convince her that her story about being from another universe is ridiculous, and she must actually be Alt-livia. Olivia is adamant that she doesn’t belong on the Other Side, and she’s damn right about that!
We pull back to a shot of Walternate watching video of this therapy session, and the full scope of what’s going on quickly becomes apparent, with the help of the alt-nerdy lab tech from Massive Dynamic. Only the lab tech works for the DoD on the Other Side. The lab tech has been doing this memory transfer procedure on Olivia because Walternate wants to turn her into Alt-livia. Walternate’s reasoning makes perfect sense. He knows Olivia has the ability to transport herself between universes, and if she has the personality of Alt-livia, she might be willing to use that power for Walternate’s cause and show Walternate how to give that power to others.
Clearly the whole memory transfer thing hasn’t taken yet, so some military guys escort Olivia to yet another treatment. We can’t have an episode of “Fringe” without a bit of squickiness, and that’s what we get from Olivia’s treatment. It soon turns from squick to awesome, though. In between painful injections, Olivia fakes shortness of breath and makes a really badass escape from the holding facility. She reaches a wall and sees water below- clearly this is some sort of Alcatraz. Then the camera pans up and we see she’s at DoD headquarters on Liberty Island. Olivia takes another look down at the water, and then she jumps.
Now in “Manhatan,” Olivia hijacks a cab driven by the somewhat cleaned-up version of Bubbs (the character’s name is actually Henry, but Andre Royo will always be Bubbs to me). I was very excited to see he was the cabbie, because Andre Royo is a fantastic actor. And he didn’t disappoint. Quite a lot of the episode takes place in Bubbs’ taxi, and Olivia makes some important realizations. For instance, Bubbs points out the tattoo on her neck, which is identical to the tattoo Alt-livia sports. It becomes clear that the treatments are gradually starting to affect Olivia, and it’s rather tragic to see her slowly deteriorating. She mentions to Bubbs that Peter is the reason she’s in Manhatan, and that little fact becomes important later. Bubbs has a family, too. A wife and daughter. Although, a one sided phone conversation we hear makes me wonder if the daughter is still alive. Olivia wants Bubbs to take her to the opera house. She’s hoping she can use the vortex there to get herself back home.
At a hospital, Lincoln, the Fringe Division agent who worked with Alt-livia and Alt-Charlie, is going through rehab for the injuries he sustained when Sally spontaneously combusted last season. Alt-Charlie is there to visit and see how Lincoln is doing, and Alt-Broyles shows up too. Alt-Broyles tells the guys that Olivia has escaped the holding facility. Only they think that the woman in the holding facility is actually Alt-livia, who had a psychotic break during the fight that went down at the opera house. Lincoln and Alt-Charlie are going to go after her. Considering Lincoln still has a big gaping hole in his head, though, it doesn’t seem like that’s such a good idea. What can I say- Lincoln is a determined guy.
Olivia arrives at the opera house to find it’s in the process of being encased in amber. Olivia, understandably, is devastated. We get two interesting bits of information about the Other Side from the sequence, though. First, we see the actual “amber-ing” process. It’s quite quick, and it’s handled by the NYPD. We also see a group of protesters, carrying signs that say things like “Amber = Death.” I was kind of surprised to see open protesting in a society that is so closely controlled by the government, what with everybody having to produce their “Show Me” to use any transportation. It looked like the opera house was completely cleared out before being encased in amber, but I guess they were protesting the occasions when NYPD ambers a place before it can be cleared out. Anyway, word gets to Fringe Division about Olivia’s presence at the opera house, and the chase is on.
Olivia’s next move is to go to what she believes will be the headquarters of the Other Side’s version of Massive Dynamic. She’s hoping there will be an alt-Nina there who can help. It’s a bit of a drive, though, so Bubbs needs to stop for gas. While Bubbs is filling up (and placing a photo of his family on the back of his cab and praying over it…weird), Olivia goes into the gas station bathroom. She looks at the tattoo on her neck in the mirror, and she has a good cry. I think she’s starting to doubt her sanity. Fringe Division shows up at the gas station (they used the tracker on Bubbs’ cab), and there’s quite an awesome action sequence involving Olivia shooting a gas tank and causing a huge explosion that almost blows up Alt-Charlie. Olivia claims she’s not much of a markswoman, and she’s surprised she made the shot. When Walternate looks at the footage of the incident, though, he sees it as Olivia becoming Alt-livia. Alt-livia made the Olympic marksmanship team, after all.
After the gas station incident, Bubbs is ready to believe Olivia, and to prove it, the throws his cab’s tracking device out the window. The tracking device seems to be standard issue on Other Side cabs, by the way. When Bubbs drops Olivia off at the address she gave him, though, she’s in for a big shock. There is no Massive Dynamic headquarters, just a park. William Bell did not start an Other Side counterpart to his business in our universe. Olivia has one last idea. She gives Bubbs the address of a house in Tarrytown. She can’t remember where she heard the address, but she knows it’s a safe house. On the way, Bubbs mentions something about how she must really love the guy she put herself in this position for, and the first name she says in response is “Frank,” Alt-livia’s boyfriend. Bubbs has to correct her about how she mentioned Peter earlier. The change is definitely progressing.
Bubbs drops Olivia off at the house in Tarrytown, and Olivia says he’s free to go- he’s done more than enough for her. Leaving Bubbs behind, Olivia circles the house, looking for a way in. She eventually finds an open window. The house turns out to be the childhood home of Alt-livia, and she has a very awkward and painful reunion with her “mom,” who is also under the impression that her daughter had a psychotic break on the job. A shocked Olivia hugs her “mom,” but then she quick snaps back to reality and starts screaming about how her mother is dead. Her mom wins the day, though, asking Olivia how she knew to come to that house if she had never been there before. Charlie then shows up to take Olivia back to Fringe Division. Olivia is totally docile about the whole thing. The helpful lab tech explains to Walternate and the audience that it was the adrenaline from Olivia’s escape that made the implanted memories finally take effect. Bubbs, now fully believing Olivia’s story, follows Charlie in his cab.
There’s a quick flash, and now we’re in Washington, D.C. in our own universe. Peter is being debriefed by a member of Congress on what happened when Peter went to the Other Side. The legislator doesn’t seem especially interested in what Peter has to say, though. He cuts the debriefing off early, saying his pen has run out of ink. He also refuses Peter’s offer to fix the pen. I think this could have some interesting implications for the future of Fringe Division in our universe. After the debriefing, Peter heads outside to meet up with Walter and Alt-livia (who hasn’t been doing an especially great job of maintaining her cover). Peter says all he was able to think about during the debriefing was “this” and kisses Alt-livia. That most definitely did not endear me to Alt-livia at all. Peter needs to realize his Olivia is missing, and fast, or I’m going to start thinking he’s an idiot.
-Olivia
From an objective standpoint, I can comprehend that “Olivia” was a superior episode of “Fringe.” It had some wonderful, emotional performances, including a memorable guest turn by Andre Royo (Bubbles from “The Wire”). The plot was both intriguing and devastating. Personally, though, I’m unhappy. In general, I find plots involving misunderstandings to be extremely frustrating and not entertaining, and we’ve got a doozy of a misunderstanding here in two universes. It gave Anna Torv absolutely wonderful material to play, but that still didn’t keep me from wanting to constantly scream at all the characters to figure it out already. I can deal with big mythology mysteries like on “Lost” being told in small doses over a long period of time, but with misunderstandings, especially urgent misunderstandings like this one, I get really impatient really quickly. I want my characters to be okay again. Sure that would mean probably going back to the often flawed monster-of-the-week episodes, but that just shows you how frustrated this plotline is already making me.
For the beginning of this season, my understanding is that we’re going to be doing a sort of every-other-episode deal between the two universes. This particular episode takes place mostly on the Other Side. Olivia is still being held captive by Walternate, but what is happening to her is even creepier than the solitary confinement we saw at the end of the Season 2 finale. Olivia is taken to regular therapy where a doctor keeps trying to convince her that her story about being from another universe is ridiculous, and she must actually be Alt-livia. Olivia is adamant that she doesn’t belong on the Other Side, and she’s damn right about that!
We pull back to a shot of Walternate watching video of this therapy session, and the full scope of what’s going on quickly becomes apparent, with the help of the alt-nerdy lab tech from Massive Dynamic. Only the lab tech works for the DoD on the Other Side. The lab tech has been doing this memory transfer procedure on Olivia because Walternate wants to turn her into Alt-livia. Walternate’s reasoning makes perfect sense. He knows Olivia has the ability to transport herself between universes, and if she has the personality of Alt-livia, she might be willing to use that power for Walternate’s cause and show Walternate how to give that power to others.
Clearly the whole memory transfer thing hasn’t taken yet, so some military guys escort Olivia to yet another treatment. We can’t have an episode of “Fringe” without a bit of squickiness, and that’s what we get from Olivia’s treatment. It soon turns from squick to awesome, though. In between painful injections, Olivia fakes shortness of breath and makes a really badass escape from the holding facility. She reaches a wall and sees water below- clearly this is some sort of Alcatraz. Then the camera pans up and we see she’s at DoD headquarters on Liberty Island. Olivia takes another look down at the water, and then she jumps.
Now in “Manhatan,” Olivia hijacks a cab driven by the somewhat cleaned-up version of Bubbs (the character’s name is actually Henry, but Andre Royo will always be Bubbs to me). I was very excited to see he was the cabbie, because Andre Royo is a fantastic actor. And he didn’t disappoint. Quite a lot of the episode takes place in Bubbs’ taxi, and Olivia makes some important realizations. For instance, Bubbs points out the tattoo on her neck, which is identical to the tattoo Alt-livia sports. It becomes clear that the treatments are gradually starting to affect Olivia, and it’s rather tragic to see her slowly deteriorating. She mentions to Bubbs that Peter is the reason she’s in Manhatan, and that little fact becomes important later. Bubbs has a family, too. A wife and daughter. Although, a one sided phone conversation we hear makes me wonder if the daughter is still alive. Olivia wants Bubbs to take her to the opera house. She’s hoping she can use the vortex there to get herself back home.
At a hospital, Lincoln, the Fringe Division agent who worked with Alt-livia and Alt-Charlie, is going through rehab for the injuries he sustained when Sally spontaneously combusted last season. Alt-Charlie is there to visit and see how Lincoln is doing, and Alt-Broyles shows up too. Alt-Broyles tells the guys that Olivia has escaped the holding facility. Only they think that the woman in the holding facility is actually Alt-livia, who had a psychotic break during the fight that went down at the opera house. Lincoln and Alt-Charlie are going to go after her. Considering Lincoln still has a big gaping hole in his head, though, it doesn’t seem like that’s such a good idea. What can I say- Lincoln is a determined guy.
Olivia arrives at the opera house to find it’s in the process of being encased in amber. Olivia, understandably, is devastated. We get two interesting bits of information about the Other Side from the sequence, though. First, we see the actual “amber-ing” process. It’s quite quick, and it’s handled by the NYPD. We also see a group of protesters, carrying signs that say things like “Amber = Death.” I was kind of surprised to see open protesting in a society that is so closely controlled by the government, what with everybody having to produce their “Show Me” to use any transportation. It looked like the opera house was completely cleared out before being encased in amber, but I guess they were protesting the occasions when NYPD ambers a place before it can be cleared out. Anyway, word gets to Fringe Division about Olivia’s presence at the opera house, and the chase is on.
Olivia’s next move is to go to what she believes will be the headquarters of the Other Side’s version of Massive Dynamic. She’s hoping there will be an alt-Nina there who can help. It’s a bit of a drive, though, so Bubbs needs to stop for gas. While Bubbs is filling up (and placing a photo of his family on the back of his cab and praying over it…weird), Olivia goes into the gas station bathroom. She looks at the tattoo on her neck in the mirror, and she has a good cry. I think she’s starting to doubt her sanity. Fringe Division shows up at the gas station (they used the tracker on Bubbs’ cab), and there’s quite an awesome action sequence involving Olivia shooting a gas tank and causing a huge explosion that almost blows up Alt-Charlie. Olivia claims she’s not much of a markswoman, and she’s surprised she made the shot. When Walternate looks at the footage of the incident, though, he sees it as Olivia becoming Alt-livia. Alt-livia made the Olympic marksmanship team, after all.
After the gas station incident, Bubbs is ready to believe Olivia, and to prove it, the throws his cab’s tracking device out the window. The tracking device seems to be standard issue on Other Side cabs, by the way. When Bubbs drops Olivia off at the address she gave him, though, she’s in for a big shock. There is no Massive Dynamic headquarters, just a park. William Bell did not start an Other Side counterpart to his business in our universe. Olivia has one last idea. She gives Bubbs the address of a house in Tarrytown. She can’t remember where she heard the address, but she knows it’s a safe house. On the way, Bubbs mentions something about how she must really love the guy she put herself in this position for, and the first name she says in response is “Frank,” Alt-livia’s boyfriend. Bubbs has to correct her about how she mentioned Peter earlier. The change is definitely progressing.
Bubbs drops Olivia off at the house in Tarrytown, and Olivia says he’s free to go- he’s done more than enough for her. Leaving Bubbs behind, Olivia circles the house, looking for a way in. She eventually finds an open window. The house turns out to be the childhood home of Alt-livia, and she has a very awkward and painful reunion with her “mom,” who is also under the impression that her daughter had a psychotic break on the job. A shocked Olivia hugs her “mom,” but then she quick snaps back to reality and starts screaming about how her mother is dead. Her mom wins the day, though, asking Olivia how she knew to come to that house if she had never been there before. Charlie then shows up to take Olivia back to Fringe Division. Olivia is totally docile about the whole thing. The helpful lab tech explains to Walternate and the audience that it was the adrenaline from Olivia’s escape that made the implanted memories finally take effect. Bubbs, now fully believing Olivia’s story, follows Charlie in his cab.
There’s a quick flash, and now we’re in Washington, D.C. in our own universe. Peter is being debriefed by a member of Congress on what happened when Peter went to the Other Side. The legislator doesn’t seem especially interested in what Peter has to say, though. He cuts the debriefing off early, saying his pen has run out of ink. He also refuses Peter’s offer to fix the pen. I think this could have some interesting implications for the future of Fringe Division in our universe. After the debriefing, Peter heads outside to meet up with Walter and Alt-livia (who hasn’t been doing an especially great job of maintaining her cover). Peter says all he was able to think about during the debriefing was “this” and kisses Alt-livia. That most definitely did not endear me to Alt-livia at all. Peter needs to realize his Olivia is missing, and fast, or I’m going to start thinking he’s an idiot.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Big Bang Theory 4.01: "The Robotic Manipulation"
“You realize, Penny, that the technology that went into this arm will one day make unskilled food servers, such as yourself, obsolete.”
-Sheldon
So because I generally find sitcoms a little easier to blog with my insane schedule, and I do love me some nerd humor, I’m adding “The Big Bang Theory” to the MTVP line-up this year. I’m also starting to realize why I didn’t make the choice to blog this show last year. While, on the whole, it is very funny, and it seems to mostly celebrate nerd culture instead of putting it down, there are definitely episodes that don’t have much in the way of substance. This would be one of those episodes. Pretty much the first third of this episode takes place while the gang is eating take-out in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, and the next third takes place in Penny’s car. Shows like “Seinfeld,” and “HIMYM” on its best days, have something to say about the mundane bits of everyday life, which makes episodes that are limited in scope, such as the episode of “Seinfeld” set entirely in the Chinese restaurant, or even this week’s “HIMYM,” which was mostly the gang sitting around MacLaren’s talking and acting silly, work on a deeper level. “The Big Bang Theory” is not trying to comment on everyday life, therefore episodes like this end up just being boring.
As I already alluded to, the episode begins in the living room of Sheldon and Leonard’s apartment. Chinese food is on the coffee table, and Howard is attempting to use a robotic arm to unpack the food packages from the bag. A quick aside: I really want to know how these guys (and gal) can afford to eat a constant diet of take-out. I’d love for my personal menu to rotate between Chinese, Thai, and Indian take-out. That would be food heaven for me. But I’m a poor part-time public interest attorney/full time grad student, so that expense is out of the question. This group contains post-docs, an engineer, and a waitress. I don’t see how they could afford it much better than I can. Anyway, the robotic arm Howard is using is something he designed for use on the International Space Station. I could go on a nerd rant about how something like that would never be used on the ISS and compare it to the “Canada Arm” on the Space Shuttle, but I’ll spare you. Yeah, I’ve been to Space Camp three times. Moving on.
Anyway, Penny joins the guys for dinner, and things start getting slightly interesting when Sheldon gets a text from Amy. It seems like Penny has only been interacting with the guys on a limited basis since her break-up with Leonard, because she is extremely surprised to find out about Amy’s existence. Howard describes Amy as “Sheldon’s girlfriend,” and Penny immediately goes into “aww, how cute, Sheldon has a girlfriend” mode. Sheldon adamantly denies that Amy is his girlfriend, although they’ve been texting and e-mailing on a regular basis since they met in last season’s finale. Sheldon obviously doth protest too much, because all of a sudden he busts out with the fact that he and Amy have talked about having kids. Penny promptly does a spit take, which I think was one of the funniest moments of the episode. Sheldon’s reasoning makes sense for him- he and Amy think their DNA would produce extremely superior offspring, but Penny suggests Sheldon spend a bit more time with Amy in person before making such a decision.
Next thing we know, Sheldon is doing his signature knock on Penny’s door. Amy has agreed to a “date,” and Sheldon wants Penny to drive. This has potential for awkward hilarity that the execution doesn’t quite live up to, although it does provide some laughs. Penny and Sheldon in Penny’s car is always awkward, and things go from awkward to worse once Amy’s sitting in the back seat. The writers seem to want to take every possible opportunity to show that she’s Sheldon’s female doppelganger, even having her complain about the car’s check engine light being on. Penny devotes a lot of time to trying to orchestrate conversation between the three of them, and it doesn’t go well.
Things take a more interesting turn once they get to a restaurant, and Penny remarks that it’s Sheldon’s firs date. This turns the conversation to how much everyone has dated, and Amy asks if Penny is a slut. Penny claims that she isn’t, but then Sheldon starts calculating how many men she has likely been with. Then the conversation turns to Amy. When Sheldon says that yes, electrical stimulation of the brain as part of a scientific experiment could be considered a sexual experience, it turns out that Amy is very experienced. Which was supposed to be funny, but it was just strange. The next day Penny and Sheldon run into each other in the hall, and Penny wants to know if Sheldon still wants to have kids with Amy. Sheldon says that he definitely does. Then Penny reminds him of what his devout evangelical Christian mother would think of having a non-marital child through in vitro fertilization. Sheldon promptly changes his mind and says he doesn’t want to go through with it after all.
The B story in this episode was jus ill-advised all around. It’s one of those rare occasions where the show laughs at nerds instead of celebrating nerd culture. Howard takes his robotic hand home, and after he programs it to give him a shoulder massage, he gets…other…ideas about how the hand could be used. As soon as I saw Howard’s face light up with the idea, I knew it couldn’t end well at all. Leonard and Raj get a frantic call from Howard, and they arrive at Howard’s house to find that the robot got stuck. None of the guys’ ridiculous suggestions for how to resolve the situation seem like good ideas, so Howard ends up at the emergency room. The receptionist there suggests Howard just turn the robot on and off, and that works as far as getting him unstuck. At the very end of the episode, Leonard gets another panicked call from Howard that it happened again. I just thought this plot was kind of gross and not as witty as the show can be when it’s at its best. There are great ways to do nerd humor, and there are crass, belittling was to do nerd humor, and this was the latter.
-Sheldon
So because I generally find sitcoms a little easier to blog with my insane schedule, and I do love me some nerd humor, I’m adding “The Big Bang Theory” to the MTVP line-up this year. I’m also starting to realize why I didn’t make the choice to blog this show last year. While, on the whole, it is very funny, and it seems to mostly celebrate nerd culture instead of putting it down, there are definitely episodes that don’t have much in the way of substance. This would be one of those episodes. Pretty much the first third of this episode takes place while the gang is eating take-out in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment, and the next third takes place in Penny’s car. Shows like “Seinfeld,” and “HIMYM” on its best days, have something to say about the mundane bits of everyday life, which makes episodes that are limited in scope, such as the episode of “Seinfeld” set entirely in the Chinese restaurant, or even this week’s “HIMYM,” which was mostly the gang sitting around MacLaren’s talking and acting silly, work on a deeper level. “The Big Bang Theory” is not trying to comment on everyday life, therefore episodes like this end up just being boring.
As I already alluded to, the episode begins in the living room of Sheldon and Leonard’s apartment. Chinese food is on the coffee table, and Howard is attempting to use a robotic arm to unpack the food packages from the bag. A quick aside: I really want to know how these guys (and gal) can afford to eat a constant diet of take-out. I’d love for my personal menu to rotate between Chinese, Thai, and Indian take-out. That would be food heaven for me. But I’m a poor part-time public interest attorney/full time grad student, so that expense is out of the question. This group contains post-docs, an engineer, and a waitress. I don’t see how they could afford it much better than I can. Anyway, the robotic arm Howard is using is something he designed for use on the International Space Station. I could go on a nerd rant about how something like that would never be used on the ISS and compare it to the “Canada Arm” on the Space Shuttle, but I’ll spare you. Yeah, I’ve been to Space Camp three times. Moving on.
Anyway, Penny joins the guys for dinner, and things start getting slightly interesting when Sheldon gets a text from Amy. It seems like Penny has only been interacting with the guys on a limited basis since her break-up with Leonard, because she is extremely surprised to find out about Amy’s existence. Howard describes Amy as “Sheldon’s girlfriend,” and Penny immediately goes into “aww, how cute, Sheldon has a girlfriend” mode. Sheldon adamantly denies that Amy is his girlfriend, although they’ve been texting and e-mailing on a regular basis since they met in last season’s finale. Sheldon obviously doth protest too much, because all of a sudden he busts out with the fact that he and Amy have talked about having kids. Penny promptly does a spit take, which I think was one of the funniest moments of the episode. Sheldon’s reasoning makes sense for him- he and Amy think their DNA would produce extremely superior offspring, but Penny suggests Sheldon spend a bit more time with Amy in person before making such a decision.
Next thing we know, Sheldon is doing his signature knock on Penny’s door. Amy has agreed to a “date,” and Sheldon wants Penny to drive. This has potential for awkward hilarity that the execution doesn’t quite live up to, although it does provide some laughs. Penny and Sheldon in Penny’s car is always awkward, and things go from awkward to worse once Amy’s sitting in the back seat. The writers seem to want to take every possible opportunity to show that she’s Sheldon’s female doppelganger, even having her complain about the car’s check engine light being on. Penny devotes a lot of time to trying to orchestrate conversation between the three of them, and it doesn’t go well.
Things take a more interesting turn once they get to a restaurant, and Penny remarks that it’s Sheldon’s firs date. This turns the conversation to how much everyone has dated, and Amy asks if Penny is a slut. Penny claims that she isn’t, but then Sheldon starts calculating how many men she has likely been with. Then the conversation turns to Amy. When Sheldon says that yes, electrical stimulation of the brain as part of a scientific experiment could be considered a sexual experience, it turns out that Amy is very experienced. Which was supposed to be funny, but it was just strange. The next day Penny and Sheldon run into each other in the hall, and Penny wants to know if Sheldon still wants to have kids with Amy. Sheldon says that he definitely does. Then Penny reminds him of what his devout evangelical Christian mother would think of having a non-marital child through in vitro fertilization. Sheldon promptly changes his mind and says he doesn’t want to go through with it after all.
The B story in this episode was jus ill-advised all around. It’s one of those rare occasions where the show laughs at nerds instead of celebrating nerd culture. Howard takes his robotic hand home, and after he programs it to give him a shoulder massage, he gets…other…ideas about how the hand could be used. As soon as I saw Howard’s face light up with the idea, I knew it couldn’t end well at all. Leonard and Raj get a frantic call from Howard, and they arrive at Howard’s house to find that the robot got stuck. None of the guys’ ridiculous suggestions for how to resolve the situation seem like good ideas, so Howard ends up at the emergency room. The receptionist there suggests Howard just turn the robot on and off, and that works as far as getting him unstuck. At the very end of the episode, Leonard gets another panicked call from Howard that it happened again. I just thought this plot was kind of gross and not as witty as the show can be when it’s at its best. There are great ways to do nerd humor, and there are crass, belittling was to do nerd humor, and this was the latter.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Glee 2.01: "Audition"
“I would have joined in with a kick-ass harmony, but the dude was naked.”
-Finn
“Audition” was a very solid beginning to the second season of “Glee.” Sometimes shows will have a bit of a sophomore slump, but I’m not seeing it yet, at least. “Audition” contained some cool musical numbers, set up several plots for a nice arc, and the theme wasn’t anviliciously hinted at by the title (and numerous lines of dialogue repeating the title, along with the theme). New characters, kind of a necessity in a show set in high school, were introduced in a non-offensive way, although both of the major new characters are a bit two-dimensional at this point. I’m hoping that improves as the season progresses. Overall, it was an enjoyable hour, although that could just be because I was watching it after one of the most stressful days ever at work and a microeconomics discussion session that I really didn’t understand. Let’s just say it was a much needed stress release at the end of a very long day.
The episode opens with Jacob shooting a video for his blog. It serves two purposes, really. The first is to bring us up-to-date on the characters, since we haven’t seen what they’ve been up to all summer. Rachel and Finn are officially dating now, for instance. More surprising, Tina dumped Artie for Mike Chang. We later find out that Tina and Mike got together when they were counselors at “Asian camp.” Mostly, Tina likes Mike for his abs (and I don’t really blame her). The second purpose of Ben’s blog is to include some meta humor about criticism the show has received, mostly from online. There are references to reports of Rachel being a diva, and there are references to complaints about Will’s rapping. Kurt says he’d rather people say all these criticisms to his face instead of anonymously on the internet. I can’t decide whether this sequence was genius humor or self-righteous whining.
Anyway, the set-up for the episode (and at least the first arc of the season) takes place in Principal Figgins’ office. There’s going to be a 10% budget cut of a whole bunch of programs at McKinley, including the Cheerios and New Directions, to give more money to the football team. There’s a new football coach, you see, because Ken Tanaka had a breakdown after the whole Emma debacle. Her (yes, her) name is Coach Beiste. She’s going to be quite the interesting foil for Sue. Sue and Will are both upset about the budget cuts, so they decide to form a sort of unholy alliance to take down Beiste.
Will’s got other important matters to deal with too, though. Nobody but the original kids are signing up for New Directions. Sue thinks the club should do auditions instead of just sign-ups, the idea being that auditions would create an enticing air of exclusivity, but Will doesn’t like that idea. The situation is especially dire because Matt, aka “Shaft,” aka the background dancer who isn’t played by Harry Shum, Jr., has transferred to another school, so New Directions is back down to eleven members. If you remember from early Season 1, show choir rules require twelve students to constitute a show choir. Nationals is in New York this year, so Will has the kids perform “Empire State of Mind” in the middle of the school in an area where kids congregate. The idea is that other kids at McKinley will maybe think glee club is cool if they see them perform a more contemporary number. I liked that some of the back beats were done a capella instead of the whole thing being done on synthesizer. The powers that be still haven’t figured out how to properly synch the music to the action on screen, though. It’s still so obviously lip synched.
The performance still doesn’t draw more kids to the club, so individual members take it upon themselves to try some recruiting. Finn hears Sam, a new football recruit, singing in the shower, much like Will heard Finn singing in the shower in the pilot. Sam sings “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” which was decent, but not memorable. Rachel meets a Filipino exchange student named Sunshine Corazone. Rachel is incredibly condescending at first, asking in über-simplified sentences if Sunshine saw her perform, because watching Rachel perform must be a huge inspiration. Sunshine starts listening to her headphones and singing along to Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” and Rachel goes from patronizing to intimidated and frightened. She joins in on the duet, too, of course, before rushing away from Sunshine as fast as she can.
Finn brings Sam to hang out with the other New Directions guys, as sort of a pre-audition. They ask if Sam has a song in his back pocket that he’d like to sing, and he chooses “Billionaire.” It’s funny, as I was driving home from school last night, anticipating watching this episode, I thought to myself that “Billionaire” was just the kind of song that would probably be on “Glee.” And obviously, I was right. The performance was cute, although for some reason the powers that be had Kevin McHale do a lot of the rapping in this episode, including for “Billionaire.” Mark Salling is really the only one of the guys who even comes close to pulling it off, and all he got lead on was about half of “Empire State of Mind.” Meanwhile, Rachel is taking the opposite tack with Sunshine. She wants to keep Sunshine as far away from glee club as possible. Kurt and Mercedes don’t approve of Rachel’s anti-Sunshine rant. Mercedes has a good point that they need all the help they can get if they want to have a shot at beating Vocal Adrenaline. Rachel takes things way too far and gives Sunshine fake directions to a fake “audition” which lead Sunshine to a crack house instead. It’s absolutely horrible, and I don’t know how we’re supposed to keep rooting for Rachel when she pulls stuff like that.
Sue and Will’s campaign against Beiste is incredibly juvenile. It starts with Will and Sue ordering surprise pizzas for Beiste and the kids trying out for football. Beiste brushes it off and says all the football guys have to eat four slices before practice. Then it’s time for “Operation: Mean Girls.” Both Sue and Will give excuses about why Beiste can’t sit at their tables in the faculty lounge. At this point, Will starts to feel bad for joining in on this foolishness. The damage is already done, though. Beiste starts to cry in front of the football hopefuls, although she tries to play it off. Finn makes the mistake of asking her if Artie can join the team (Artie thinks it will help him win back Tina) while she’s still hurting, and Beiste is convinced that Finn’s request is another practical joke meant to make her look like an idiot. Finn’s idea that pushing Artie’s wheelchair down the field could work as a battering ram isn’t the brightest idea, after all. Beiste is so upset at the perceived lack of respect that she kicks Finn off the team. Finn, of course, is devastated.
Finn decides that since he’s been kicked off the football team, he needs to become a Cheerio to retain any social standing. His dance to “I Got the Power” (yay early 90’s hip hop!) was the funniest moment of the episode by far. I love how the producers are getting really good at using Cory Monteith’s horrible dancing abilities to comedic effect. Finn’s not the only one who wants to be a Cheerio, though. Quinn wants back on the team, too. The theme of this episode seemed to be that many of the characters acting quite Machiavellian to get what they want out of McKinley High life, and Quinn is certainly a good example of that. She leaks the story that Santana got breast implants over the summer, knowing full well that Sue is extremely anti-cosmetic surgery. Sue calls Santana into her office and tells her that Quinn will be replacing her as head cheerleader. Santana will be demoted to the bottom of the pyramid. Santana physically attacks Quinn when she next sees her in the hall. It’s quite ugly.
Not surprisingly, Sue also goes way too far in her pursuit of her goal of ousting Beiste. First, she convinces Brittany to lie to Principal Figgins and accuse Beiste of molesting her. This is so serious that when Will is called in, he puts a stop to it and gets Brittany to tell the truth. Later, Sue tries to serve Beiste “cookies” made of poo, and Will puts a stop to that, too. By that point, he’s decided that he’s going to go back to being himself and treat Beiste nicely. He apologizes to her. Which is a little boring, but true to character, I suppose. I really, really did like how the theme of this episode was definitely present, but not as much of an anvil as “Glee” tends to do. The episode title wasn’t “The Cost of Achievement” with every character saying “cost” ten times in the episode, for instance.
Sam never showed up for his full-club audition, and Finn seeks him out to find out what happened. Sam didn’t like the lack of social status that comes with New Directions. He doesn’t think he’d be able to take the ribbing he’d receive from the other football players. To make matters worse, Sam has been named the new quarterback of the team. He’s taken Finn’s job and popularity. Finn isn’t the only one who has lost out by the end of the episode, though. The entire glee club loses out. Sunshine did indeed get to do her full audition (she sang a song from “Dream Girls”), but she ends up getting recruited by Vocal Adrenaline, thanks to Sue’s machinations, of course. Sunshine accepts the offer because even though she did eventually get to audition for New Directions, Rachel’s dirty trick made her feel incredibly unwelcome. Finn confronts Rachel about that whole incident. Finn and Rachel are still an incredibly solid couple, which is kind of nice to see, but Finn makes Rachel admit that she didn’t try to keep Sunshine away to help the group dynamic. She did what she did because she didn’t want to share the spotlight. The episode ends with Rachel expressing her realization by singing “What I Did For Love.”
-Finn
“Audition” was a very solid beginning to the second season of “Glee.” Sometimes shows will have a bit of a sophomore slump, but I’m not seeing it yet, at least. “Audition” contained some cool musical numbers, set up several plots for a nice arc, and the theme wasn’t anviliciously hinted at by the title (and numerous lines of dialogue repeating the title, along with the theme). New characters, kind of a necessity in a show set in high school, were introduced in a non-offensive way, although both of the major new characters are a bit two-dimensional at this point. I’m hoping that improves as the season progresses. Overall, it was an enjoyable hour, although that could just be because I was watching it after one of the most stressful days ever at work and a microeconomics discussion session that I really didn’t understand. Let’s just say it was a much needed stress release at the end of a very long day.
The episode opens with Jacob shooting a video for his blog. It serves two purposes, really. The first is to bring us up-to-date on the characters, since we haven’t seen what they’ve been up to all summer. Rachel and Finn are officially dating now, for instance. More surprising, Tina dumped Artie for Mike Chang. We later find out that Tina and Mike got together when they were counselors at “Asian camp.” Mostly, Tina likes Mike for his abs (and I don’t really blame her). The second purpose of Ben’s blog is to include some meta humor about criticism the show has received, mostly from online. There are references to reports of Rachel being a diva, and there are references to complaints about Will’s rapping. Kurt says he’d rather people say all these criticisms to his face instead of anonymously on the internet. I can’t decide whether this sequence was genius humor or self-righteous whining.
Anyway, the set-up for the episode (and at least the first arc of the season) takes place in Principal Figgins’ office. There’s going to be a 10% budget cut of a whole bunch of programs at McKinley, including the Cheerios and New Directions, to give more money to the football team. There’s a new football coach, you see, because Ken Tanaka had a breakdown after the whole Emma debacle. Her (yes, her) name is Coach Beiste. She’s going to be quite the interesting foil for Sue. Sue and Will are both upset about the budget cuts, so they decide to form a sort of unholy alliance to take down Beiste.
Will’s got other important matters to deal with too, though. Nobody but the original kids are signing up for New Directions. Sue thinks the club should do auditions instead of just sign-ups, the idea being that auditions would create an enticing air of exclusivity, but Will doesn’t like that idea. The situation is especially dire because Matt, aka “Shaft,” aka the background dancer who isn’t played by Harry Shum, Jr., has transferred to another school, so New Directions is back down to eleven members. If you remember from early Season 1, show choir rules require twelve students to constitute a show choir. Nationals is in New York this year, so Will has the kids perform “Empire State of Mind” in the middle of the school in an area where kids congregate. The idea is that other kids at McKinley will maybe think glee club is cool if they see them perform a more contemporary number. I liked that some of the back beats were done a capella instead of the whole thing being done on synthesizer. The powers that be still haven’t figured out how to properly synch the music to the action on screen, though. It’s still so obviously lip synched.
The performance still doesn’t draw more kids to the club, so individual members take it upon themselves to try some recruiting. Finn hears Sam, a new football recruit, singing in the shower, much like Will heard Finn singing in the shower in the pilot. Sam sings “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” which was decent, but not memorable. Rachel meets a Filipino exchange student named Sunshine Corazone. Rachel is incredibly condescending at first, asking in über-simplified sentences if Sunshine saw her perform, because watching Rachel perform must be a huge inspiration. Sunshine starts listening to her headphones and singing along to Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” and Rachel goes from patronizing to intimidated and frightened. She joins in on the duet, too, of course, before rushing away from Sunshine as fast as she can.
Finn brings Sam to hang out with the other New Directions guys, as sort of a pre-audition. They ask if Sam has a song in his back pocket that he’d like to sing, and he chooses “Billionaire.” It’s funny, as I was driving home from school last night, anticipating watching this episode, I thought to myself that “Billionaire” was just the kind of song that would probably be on “Glee.” And obviously, I was right. The performance was cute, although for some reason the powers that be had Kevin McHale do a lot of the rapping in this episode, including for “Billionaire.” Mark Salling is really the only one of the guys who even comes close to pulling it off, and all he got lead on was about half of “Empire State of Mind.” Meanwhile, Rachel is taking the opposite tack with Sunshine. She wants to keep Sunshine as far away from glee club as possible. Kurt and Mercedes don’t approve of Rachel’s anti-Sunshine rant. Mercedes has a good point that they need all the help they can get if they want to have a shot at beating Vocal Adrenaline. Rachel takes things way too far and gives Sunshine fake directions to a fake “audition” which lead Sunshine to a crack house instead. It’s absolutely horrible, and I don’t know how we’re supposed to keep rooting for Rachel when she pulls stuff like that.
Sue and Will’s campaign against Beiste is incredibly juvenile. It starts with Will and Sue ordering surprise pizzas for Beiste and the kids trying out for football. Beiste brushes it off and says all the football guys have to eat four slices before practice. Then it’s time for “Operation: Mean Girls.” Both Sue and Will give excuses about why Beiste can’t sit at their tables in the faculty lounge. At this point, Will starts to feel bad for joining in on this foolishness. The damage is already done, though. Beiste starts to cry in front of the football hopefuls, although she tries to play it off. Finn makes the mistake of asking her if Artie can join the team (Artie thinks it will help him win back Tina) while she’s still hurting, and Beiste is convinced that Finn’s request is another practical joke meant to make her look like an idiot. Finn’s idea that pushing Artie’s wheelchair down the field could work as a battering ram isn’t the brightest idea, after all. Beiste is so upset at the perceived lack of respect that she kicks Finn off the team. Finn, of course, is devastated.
Finn decides that since he’s been kicked off the football team, he needs to become a Cheerio to retain any social standing. His dance to “I Got the Power” (yay early 90’s hip hop!) was the funniest moment of the episode by far. I love how the producers are getting really good at using Cory Monteith’s horrible dancing abilities to comedic effect. Finn’s not the only one who wants to be a Cheerio, though. Quinn wants back on the team, too. The theme of this episode seemed to be that many of the characters acting quite Machiavellian to get what they want out of McKinley High life, and Quinn is certainly a good example of that. She leaks the story that Santana got breast implants over the summer, knowing full well that Sue is extremely anti-cosmetic surgery. Sue calls Santana into her office and tells her that Quinn will be replacing her as head cheerleader. Santana will be demoted to the bottom of the pyramid. Santana physically attacks Quinn when she next sees her in the hall. It’s quite ugly.
Not surprisingly, Sue also goes way too far in her pursuit of her goal of ousting Beiste. First, she convinces Brittany to lie to Principal Figgins and accuse Beiste of molesting her. This is so serious that when Will is called in, he puts a stop to it and gets Brittany to tell the truth. Later, Sue tries to serve Beiste “cookies” made of poo, and Will puts a stop to that, too. By that point, he’s decided that he’s going to go back to being himself and treat Beiste nicely. He apologizes to her. Which is a little boring, but true to character, I suppose. I really, really did like how the theme of this episode was definitely present, but not as much of an anvil as “Glee” tends to do. The episode title wasn’t “The Cost of Achievement” with every character saying “cost” ten times in the episode, for instance.
Sam never showed up for his full-club audition, and Finn seeks him out to find out what happened. Sam didn’t like the lack of social status that comes with New Directions. He doesn’t think he’d be able to take the ribbing he’d receive from the other football players. To make matters worse, Sam has been named the new quarterback of the team. He’s taken Finn’s job and popularity. Finn isn’t the only one who has lost out by the end of the episode, though. The entire glee club loses out. Sunshine did indeed get to do her full audition (she sang a song from “Dream Girls”), but she ends up getting recruited by Vocal Adrenaline, thanks to Sue’s machinations, of course. Sunshine accepts the offer because even though she did eventually get to audition for New Directions, Rachel’s dirty trick made her feel incredibly unwelcome. Finn confronts Rachel about that whole incident. Finn and Rachel are still an incredibly solid couple, which is kind of nice to see, but Finn makes Rachel admit that she didn’t try to keep Sunshine away to help the group dynamic. She did what she did because she didn’t want to share the spotlight. The episode ends with Rachel expressing her realization by singing “What I Did For Love.”
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