Nashville 1.01: "Pilot"

“Well, son, you be careful. She’s got the family curse. We always pick the one who will break your heart.”
-Deacon

“Nashville” is a strong pilot, mostly because of the stellar performance by the great Connie Britton (Tami Taylor of “Friday Night Lights”). I had a writing professor in college, though, whose favorite trick was to look at a student’s short story, point to one sentence or paragraph, and say “That’s where the story is.” The idea being that you cut the rest and focus on the real kernel of story. I think the development execs at ABC needed to do that with showrunner Callie Khouri, even if she is the Oscar-winning writer of “Thelma and Louise.” There is quite a lot of plot set up in this first hour. There’s the Nashville music scene, with plots covering both the old guard of country musicians and the new, and there’s a political intrigue plot, too. I think the political machinations could have been cut really, the lives of the musicians are dramatic and complicated enough as is without stepping too far out of the music scene. I’m not really a country music fan, but I can respect and identify with the core idea of a city devoted to a craft and the joy of seeing people excel at that craft.

We’re introduced to quite the cast of characters in the pilot. Leading the bill is waning country music star Rayna Jaymes, played by the incomparable Connie Brittion (who knew she could sing?) and young ingénue Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). Rayna is asked to play nice with Juliette and be her de facto opening act for her next big tour, but Juliette doesn’t make it easy for Rayna to comply with the request from her label. Juliette is rude to Rayna, and she keeps trying to steal (and sleep with) everyone on Rayna’s creative team. First there’s Rayna’s producer, Randy, then Rayna’s band leader and former lover, Deacon Claybourne. We’re introduced to the second string (young up-and-comers who are trying to make a name on the Nashville club circuit) primarily through Deacon’s niece, Scarlett O’Connor, who works at premiere country music club The Bluebird Cafe. Are the names of these characters fabulous or what? Scarlet’s boyfriend Avery is an aspiring country musician, desperately seeking his girlfriend’s Uncle Deacon’s approval. Deacon, however, has taken a liking (musically) to Bluebird Café soundboard operator Gunnar, who has an interest in Scarlet himself. On the political side of things, there’s Rayna’s evil father Lamar, who is pissed off that family friend and top mayoral candidate Coleman Carlyle (“The Wire’s” Robert Wisdom) doesn’t like the idea of Lamar building a baseball stadium in Nashville. Lamar wants a puppet mayor, so he recruits Rayna’s down on his luck husband Teddy to run against Coleman.

The axis around which all the characters seem to revolve is Rayna. She turns down her label’s mandate to open for Juliette, so the second half of the pilot has her kind of falling into a tailspin. It doesn’t help that, as I mentioned, Juliette keeps trying to steal her entire creative team. As far as Juliette goes, I can see that the writers were trying to make her somewhat sympathetic. She has a drug addicted mother who is constantly asking her for money and making her feel like a terrible daughter. I get that she’s supposed to be on some quest for validation, but she’s just so mean and nasty that it’s hard to feel any sympathy. Making things worse for Rayna are all the political machinations. She wants to support her friend Coleman in the mayoral race, but now that Teddy has gotten it into his head that he could be a good mayor, she feels she needs to stand by him. It’s plain to see the cracks in Rayna and Teddy’s marriage. There’s clearly some bitterness on Rayna’s part that Teddy both won’t do his part to help the family financially and also wants her to work less. There’s also bitterness on Teddy’s part that he’s never in the spotlight and he’s just “Mr. Rayna James.” Rayna pretty much despises her father, so he has to dig deep to get her to be complicit in this mess. He reminds her that Teddy didn’t have to be so good to one of her two daughters, which leads me to believe that the father of that daughter must be Deacon.

While the Rayna/Juliette plot is definitely strong and compelling in a way the political plot isn’t (that plot feels extraneous), I think I like the scenes that take place at the Bluebird Café the best. The Avery/Scarlett/Gunnar triangle is a little simple (Avery’s a douchey hipster while Gunnar is the strong guy who shows Scarlett how talented she is), I love the vibe of people striving to be the very best at their craft and excelling at it. For a country musician, Nashville must be quite an inspiring place to be. Being at a place like the Bluebird Café probably feels like how I felt when I heard people having high level economics debates on the Metro during the year I lived just outside (literally…across the street) from Washington, DC. Gunnar convinces Scarlett to let him put some of her poetry to music, and when they perform at the Bluebird Café, the result is gorgeous. Nashville royalty and friend to Rayna Watty White hears this performance and tells Rayna he thinks he has an idea to keep her career alive without touring with Juliette.

I saw a whole lot of potential in the “Nashville” pilot, even if it was trying to fit twenty pounds of plot in a five pound bag. I’ve seen both Connie Britton and Robert Wisdom deliver outstanding performances in the past, and I have no doubt they can do so again. The show has a definite sense of place, especially when immersed in the country music scene, and I think that’s always a positive thing. When a show has a real sense of place, it takes on that immersive quality that all the best TV has. I think focusing in on the struggle between the old guard musicians and the new and the struggle in general just to break into the Nashville music scene can provide plenty of compelling television. There’s really no need for political drama on top of that, especially political drama that makes the main character’s life so unbearably horrible (she’s being blackmailed by her father, people!). I’m looking forward to watching more episodes and hopefully watching the show find its way.

Arrow 1.01: "Pilot"

“She says the island changed me. She has no idea how much. There are many more names on the list, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island.”
- Oliver Queen

I have to admit I’m not the world’s biggest superhero fan. But when I saw the previews for “Arrow” and I heard the caliber of actor they had on the show (Paul Blackthorne and John Barrowman) I knew I had to give it a shot.

The story begins on an island in the South China Sea. We see a man running through brush and up a rock face to get to a stash of arrows. There’s a boat on the horizon and as the hooded man shoots the arrow, it lights up a fire. He’s rescued. And this man is former billionaire playboy Oliver Queen. Presumed dead after his father’s yacht sunk at sea five years ago, he’s finally home in Starling City. Oliver has a mission though. He’s going to right the wrongs of his city. He reconnects with his mother and younger sister and gives kind of an indifferent look to his father’s former business partner Walter. Elsewhere in the city, Laurel Lance is arguing with a co-worker over a case they have against a big city slum lord. Behind them, the news comes on, discussing Oliver’s miraculous return, only to mention that he had been with Laurel’s sister, Sarah at the time the yacht went under. Laurel is not happy.

Dinner at the Queen mansion is kind of tense. Oliver’s best friend Tommy is over and recounting all the things Oliver missed out on (including a nice little LOST shout out). Oliver isn’t surprised to find that his mother and Walter are now married. Things get uncomfortable when his sister Thea asks what the island was like. Oliver excuses himself and has a flashback to the night the yacht sank. He was messing around with Sarah when the ship tilts and she gets sucked out a breach in the wall. He wakes to find himself strangling his mother. Yeah, PTSD is not very fun.

The next morning he walks in on Thea and a friend cutting pain pills. The girls try to hide it and Oliver pretends not to notice. He wanted to give Thea a Buddhist stone that symbolizes reconnecting. That’s kind of sweet and then Tommy shows up to take him around the city on a welcome back tour. They stop by the dilapidated factory Oliver’s dad owned and then Oliver insists on seeing Laurel. He gets a rather icy reception from his ex. I can’t really blame her. She seems to throw herself into her work to escape the pain of losing her sister while said sister was sleeping with her boyfriend. Oliver tries to apologize but Laurel’s not interested. On their way to continue the tour, Oliver and Tommy get jumped by guys in masks. Oliver has another flashback to being in the raft with the pilot and his dad. His dad says if any of them are going to survive, it will be Oliver. He also admits that he failed Starling City. When Oliver comes to, he’s flex-cuffed to a chair and the masked guys are demanding to know if Oliver’s dad made it to the island and told him anything. Oliver breaks free and takes them out, saying no one can know his secret. This of course brings in the cops, including Laurel’s dad, Detective Lance (played by the ever awesome Paul Blackthorne). Oliver gives a description of a guy in a green hood that swooped in and saved them from the thugs. Detective lance isn’t convinced. He probably hates Oliver as much as Laurel. He lost a daughter after all. Oliver just gives him a smile.

A little later Oliver is browsing a little book he got from his dad with names in it. He’s after Adam Hunt, the slum lord. He has a little sweet moment with their maid who appears to have been quite the caregiver. Unfortunately thanks to the abduction, his mother has assigned him an armed guard. Oliver is not happy and ends up literally ducking out of a moving car to escape. He ends up back at his dad’s factory and we have probably my favorite scenes from the preview. We see him setting up his lair and working out, making arrows. He looks so good doing the salmon ladder. I could do without all the voiceovers though. I understand they are necessary, especially since this is a pilot but I hope they abandon it going forward.

Anyway, once he’s got his arrows all set to go, we see Adam Hunt in a parking garage ordering his minions around, telling them to keep Laurel and the judge in line. Too bad they don’t’ see the arrow take out the lights. Two of Hunt’s bodyguards go down and Hunt hides in his car. Like that’s going to stop Oliver. He orders Hunt to transfer $40 million into an account by 10pm the next night. Hunt reports this to the cops so now we understand why Oliver told them about the hooded guy. He knew he was going after Hunt and would need it to corroborate the story. That night, Oliver heads to the big welcome back bash Tommy threw him at the building next to Hunt’s building. His bodyguard is waiting in the car and tells Oliver to buckle up. Not going to have a repeat performance. They get to the party and things are pretty crazy. I have to say I think Tommy reminds me a lot of early Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. He even sounds a little bit like Jason Dohring. After intercepting Thea carrying some drugs and losing the argument about her even being at the party seeing as she’s only seventeen, Oliver runs into Laurel. They have a quiet chat and Laurel offers to be there if he needs to talk about his time on the island. He brushes her off and continues to act like a spoiled brat. I guess he can’t’ let people know how much he’s changed.

It’s now after 10 and Hunt’s goons are ready. So are the cops. I guess no one expected Oliver to scale the outside of the building. He gets in and shoots and arrow at Hunt, landing it in his safe. Oliver then takes out Hunt’s new head of security and barely escapes when Detective Lance shows up. They crash Oliver’s party but Oliver is already back, acting like nothing happened. The following day, Hunt is furious to find $40 million has disappeared. The arrow in the safe electronically transferred the money to all of Laurel’s clients. In the midst of every phone in the legal aid office ringing, Tommy shows up. Apparently he and Laurel are kind of seeing each other. Not surprising. In a twist that I was a little surprised they did in the pilot, it turns out Oliver’s mom was partly behind the abduction. She wants to know what her husband told him.

New Girl 2.04: "Neighbors"

“If I had a dollar for every person I couldn't hang out with because they hate Schmidt, I'd be rich. Like fill my gas tank up all the way rich.”
-Nick

So this past Tuesday was my twenty-ninth birthday. Which made me wonder if the TV Gods were trying to tell me something when both my FOX sitcoms (“New Girl” and “The Mindy Project”) featured women in their early thirties trying to act like they’re still in their early twenties. Both shows tackled the theme in a different way and with their own distinctive comedic voice, but the-grow-the-hell-up-a-thon gave me pause. Don’t worry, I won’t be giving up blogging for wine tasting nights à la “Okay Awesome,” I just found the whole thing to be ironic (in an Alanis Morisette kind of way, not the actual definition kind of way). Anyway, like the first three episodes of the season, I wouldn’t put “Neighbors” in my pantheon of all-time great “New Girl” episodes, but I did laugh a lot, probably more than I’ve laughed at any of the other season two episodes. I think why I enjoy “New Girl” so much is because the characters are at a similar point in life and can make similar pop culture references. The TGIF stuff especially had me cracking up (and if you read this blog, please tell me you remember TGIF…I can’t be that old, right?).

Anyway, the episode begins with Jess wallowing in underemployment (she’s working at a place called the “Caserole Shanty.” It’s not a day she has to work, so she’s been watching a TGIF marathon all day and she’s also been working on her Urkel impression. The guys think that this is pretty pathetic, and Jess’ attempts at other 80’s-90’s sitcom impressions don’t help. This conversation is interrupted by four new neighbors introducing themselves. They’re 23 year old hipsters, and they’re really rather obnoxious. They mention they’re having a party, which Jess and Schmidt are especially excited about, but then the hipsters say that only “young” people are invited. The “young” comment really throws Schmidt for a loop. He shows the rest of the gang the results of this shady online actuarial service he’s subscribed to, and h ways that Winston is going to die young. Nick goes very Ted Moseby and says he enjoys aging into his personality. This whole conversation degrades into a slap fight between Schmidt and Nick, and the actual funny thing about that bit is that Winston and Jess don’t even resist. There was a recent piece in the Washington Post about how unrealistic all the physical fighting between friends on television is. I guess the “New Girl” creative team didn’t read it.

The loft crew decides to try and crash the hipster party. When they arrive, the neighbors say that because some of their friends couldn’t make it, the kickass party has been downgraded to a “chill hang.” Winston and Nick immediately peace out at that, but Schmidt and Jess decide to stay and experience the event. The kids, however, aren’t getting any of the pop culture references Schmidt is trying to make. Strangely, Jess is the one they respect, especially because she works at Caserole Shanty. They also really like her Urkel “Did I do that?” too, even though they have no idea where it comes from. They even think her Stephanie Tanner “How rude!” is hilarious, not realizing that she’s ganked both of her “catch phrases” from the TGIF marathon. The kids still don’t like Schmidt, though. In fact, they kind of hate him. Nick says this is not the first time this has happened.

Nick’s main plot for the episode is that he’s trying to pull a very elaborate prank on Schmidt. Basically, he wants to make Schmidt feel old by messing with his shoes and his chair to make it harder for him to get around. Winston wants to get in on it, too, but he’s a horrible prankster. He either goes too far (things that could result in serious injury) or not far enough. As Nick puts it, Winston has no sweet spot when it comes to pranking. Making things even worse for Schmidt (beyond the pranking), Jess drills it into his head that the kids hate him. And then the kids make that readily apparent by being nasty. And I have to say, I actually felt sorry for Schmidt for one. Schmidt can see that he’s not welcome amongst the hipsters, so he pretends he has to go take care fan emergency for work and leaves. That combined with feeling old due to Nick’s pranks leads Schmidt to ask Jess to help him be cool.

The next time Schmidt and Jess visit the neighbors, Schmidt desperately tries to take advice on being cool, right down to the clothes he’s wearing. It doesn’t work, though. The kids still hate him. Then one of the kids says his mom does his laundry, and another talks about not understanding how a dishwasher works. This throws Jess for a loop, and she says they can’t hang out anymore. I guess she finally realized that she’s grown up more than she thought. Once they leave the neighbors’ apartment, Jess tells Schmidt he should stop trying so hard to be loved by everybody. Schmidt counters that he doesn’t give up (implying that Jess has given up on teaching). Jess explains that since her life isn’t where she wants, she had been hanging out with the kids because they don’t judge her. The neighbors then drop by the loft, and Nick in full old-man mode scares them off. Before they leave, though, they tell Schmidt that they hate him because he’s an ass, not because of his age. This, somehow, makes Schmidt feel better.

Most of the characters on the show are in a better place by the end of the episode. Winston had become frustrated with his job at the sports radio show, so he tries to quit in a speech that’s pretty much wall to wall sports metaphors. I figured he lost his job, but at the end of the episode, he announces to the gang that he’s been named a producer of one of the radio network’s shows. Sure, it’s the middle of the night show, but it’s his own. I think he’s going to be the Robin of this group of friends, always providing entertainment from his crazy late night broadcasts. Nick reveals to Jess that he spent more money than he could afford on the elaborate prank on Schmidt, but he thinks it was worth it. Jess doesn’t have much time to sympathize, though, because she’s all dressed up professionally and leaving for her first day as a tutor.

HIMYM 8.03: "Nannies"

“Robin, I expensed seven grand on merch. This is happening.”
-Barney

“Nannies” was another sub-par episode of HIMYM, although at least it was better than last week’s episode. Damning with faint praise, I know. Once again Barney was more on the cartoon side of the spectrum as opposed to the “real boy” side. The one redeeming aspect of that was that Barney repeatedly admits that the way he is acting is not okay, but he doesn’t think he can help himself. It’s like that old cliché about how admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery. There’s also a rather silly parenting related story featuring Masrhall and Lily. I thought Marshall and Lily being parents might be fun, but it’s turned out to be every parenting cliché taken to extremes. Not fun. I definitely think there’s room to tell stories about Marshall and Lily’s newfound parenthood in a more grounded, but still funny way. That’s what really first attracted me to HIMYM – its ability to chronicle the moments in the transition years of life in a way that was funny but emotionally honest. I miss that.

The episode opens with a bit of Cartoon Barney. He’s invented his own fall holiday called “Bangtoberfest,” complete with a new arrangement of the “Bangity Bang” song playing in the background as he describes it to the gang. My only reaction was to sigh, although, as I mentioned, the plot does get a bit better and takes somewhat of a turn away from Cartoon Barney. The other two plots of the episode are also introduced early in the episode. Lily’s dad accidentally burned the Long Island house down, and he shows up at Marshall and Lily’s apartment. To add to that chaos, Marshall and Lily are arguing over taking care of Marvin now that Lily has to go back to work. They’re having a lot of trouble finding a nanny, and even though Mickey rather desperately volunteers, Marshall and Lily don’t take him up on the offer for obvious reasons. While discussing all this at MacLaren’s, Robin says she and Nick could babysit, because they’re just clicking so well as a couple. This grates with Ted, who immediately says that he and Victoria are clicking really well too. What follows is inevitable one-upsmanship, and it kind of made me gag because it was so ridiculous.

Back in nanny interview land, Marshall and Lily interview Mrs. Buckmeister, who is older and British and the quintessential perfect nanny in a Mary Poppins sort of way. Marshall and Lily adore her and desperately want to hire her, but her fee is way too high for them to afford. Most of the nannies on the kind of sketchy nannies they can actually afford are scary bad. They do like Julie, a young woman from Minnesota. She grew up not far from Marshall, and they all just hit it off. Julie says she has one more interview later that afternoon, but she can’t imagine choosing to work for a family other than the Eriksens. Predictably, she calls and says she won’t be working for them after all. She’s met this rich dad, and she’s fallen in love with him. And they’re going on a vacation together right away. Marshall and Lily investigate and discover that the “rich dad” is Barney, who had been desperately looking for new ways to pick up chicks for Bangtoberfest. Julie says she can’t possibly nanny for a couple who would be friends with a monster like Barney.

Meanwhile, the Ted/Robin whose relationship is more perfect argument continues to escalate to new heights of foolishness. They’re enjoying drinks at MacLaren’s, as they generally do, and they start comparing future vacation plans (Jamaica versus Hawaii…I’d take either, really), how far in the future these vacations are planned for, and if they’ve met their new significant other’s parents (Robin has, Ted hasn’t). Ted accuses Nick of being needy, and we get a flashback of Nick talking about “wanting to be heard” while he and Robin are watching football at MacLaren’s. Robin, in turn, accuses Victoria of being a slob, and we get a kind of funny flashback of Victoria just destroying Ted’s apartment.

Just when Marshall and Lily are getting really desperate for a nanny, Mrs. Buckminster shows up at their door again. It turns out Barney agreed to pay her salary (I guess as an apology for ruining things with Julie), which I thought was kind of sweet. He knows he can’t act like Cartoon Barney any more, and he’s trying to move away from that, I hope. He actually faces a smackdown from a bunch of the nannies he slept with through his scheme. Anyway, even though they have the perfect nanny, Lily is extremely reluctant to hand Marvin over when the time comes. She ends up sending Mrs. Buckminster away. Lily wakes up at 5:00 in the evening holding a stuffed animal. She and Marshall don’t know where Marvin is, which causes a brief panic until Mickey arrives home from a trip to the park. He’s been taking care of Marvin all day. Apparently he was the primary caretaker for Lily during the first few years of her life, which she didn’t remember. He shows her a photo album, the one thing he was able to rescue from the Long Island house. It turns out that having to leave Lily at preschool was what drove him to gambling. Lily hires Mickey to take care of Marvin, and we get a sweet montage of Grandpa Mickey with Marvin as he grows up into a young boy. The sweetness of that is kind of ruined by the episode tag of Barney sleeping with Mrs. Buckminster, but no more needs to be said about that.

Revolution 1.04: "The Plague Dogs"

“It’s not my fault her dad’s dead. It’s not my fault what happened to her mom. I don’t even know Charlie. Family or not, I’m not doing this anymore. I’m out.”
- Miles

This week begins with Charlie running through the woods like she’s being chased. And sure enough, some guy is after her for stealing a bag of rations. He catches her and says he’s going to have to take her in for stealing when Miles and Nora show up. It was a ploy. I guess you do what you have to. The guy is useful though. He shares the news that Danny and Captain Neville passed through the area a day ago. They can catch up. As they head on, Charlie tries againt o get Miles to open up but he flat out tells her to shut up and that it’s not her business. He threatens to leave and not help find Danny if she keeps asking. We then cut to Aaron and Maggie in Lowell, Indiana waiting for the rendezvous. Maggie flashes back to the night of the blackout when she last talked to her children via webcam. Charlie and company finally show up and they take off. They end up coming across some rabid dogs on the road and run. They make it over a fence to safety with only minor injury. Aaron gets a bite out of his leg but Maggie assures him he probably didn’t get rabies.

We pay a visit to Rachel in Monroe’s camp. She’s reading a leather-bound book with all kinds of diagrams which she quickly hides in a pile of other books when Monroe comes in. He questions her about how and why Ben knew about the blackout. She still doesn’t know so he sends in one of his goons to torture the information out of her. Really nice guy. On the road, Danny convinces Neville to find shelter for the night as there’s a big storm coming.

Meanwhile, Nora is giving Miles a lecture on being so hard on Charlie. She overhears but it’s too late because they need to get moving. We get a quick flashback to Rachel leaving the kids and Ben, saying she had to get supplies and wouldn’t be back for a few months. They end up at a big fenced area with yet another dog except this one has an owner. Back with Neville and his gang, it appears it was good advice on Danny’s part. What looks like a tornado is coming in and they barely make it to shelter. Danny tries another escape attempt and ends up in a cellar with Neville. Meanwhile, Miles figures out Nate has been following them and of course, Charlie jumps in to defend the guy. She says that if he’s really part of Neville’s unit, they can use Nate for information. Nate doesn’t seem to mind. He gets to keep a closer eye on Miles.

As they continue on, Maggie flashes back to her trek across the country, trying to reach the East Coast and boat to take her back to England. It’s been a few years since the blackout and the guy she meets says the ships have either been destroyed in war or broken down for lumber by the militia. She ends up sharing a story with Miles to convince him not to leave (Charlie gave her the Cliff notes version of Miles’ past). She explains how she was on the verge of committing suicide when Ben found her and invited her back to his campfire. And how she ended up staying with them and came to treat them as her family. She says Charlie and her family saved Maggie’s life and Miles shouldn’t give up. They end up surrounded by wild dogs again except they’re not so wild. They guy we saw earlier appears to own them all and grabs Maggie. He stabs her in the leg before taking off. I should have seen it coming with the Maggie-heavy flashbacks. But she’s bleeding out and there’s nothing the gang can do.

Back in the cellar, Neville and Danny have a little conversation as the storm rages. Danny finds out that Neville has a son of his own. Neville explains he’s doing what he is to make a future for his son. Danny doesn’t seem impressed. He calls Neville out for being a murderer. The storm passes and just as Neville rejoices (literally saying “Amen”) the cellar doors collapse. In the diner, Maggie is continuing to bleed out and Charlie is actually nice to her. Charlie admits that she didn’t know how to handle her mom being gone but having Maggie there. Miles and Nora take off to try and find the owner of the dogs so Miles can make him call them off. Unfortunately, just as Charlie gets some whiskey to sterilize sewing equipment to try and stitch up Maggie’s leg, Charlie gets nabbed. Nate probably could have helped if he wasn’t cuffed.

Miles gets back and ends up taking Nate with him to hunt for Charlie while Nora stays to help Aaron operate. In the cellar, Neville basically tricks Danny into saving him. Bastard. The guy that took Charlie is creepy and ends up rigging the door to a crossbow. Nate and Miles take the guy and Charlie manages to dodge the arrow. Unfortunately, Maggie doesn’t make it. As she’s dying she happily remembers reading The Wizard of Oz to her kids. We end with Monroe paying another visit to Rachel. He tells her that Danny will be there soon and wonders if she’ll start talking and cooperating once they start torturing him. I really don’t like this guy. We see the scene again where Rachel leaves her family and she’s trying to keep it together. She gets to base camp and we see that Miles is there. Apparently he asked Rachel to come. She begs him as they slap cuffs on her to promise that she’ll see her kids again. I have to say a very good episode all around.

REPOST: A Bit of Horrible Goodness

My favorite work by Joss Whedon, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," is airing tonight on the CW at 9:00 PM. It's the first time the little 45-minute internet musical that could has aired on television, so this is kind of a big deal. In honor of the milestone, here's some analysis I wrote on the piece way back in September, 2009. This was only the second month of MTVP's existence, so be kind!

***

“The world is a mess, and I just need to . . . rule it!”
-Billy/Dr. Horrible

In celebration of the big Emmy win this past Saturday, I’m departing from the usual scope of coverage of this blog for a bit. Instead of writing about something that is broadcast on TV, I’m writing about something that was originally “broadcast” on the Internet. If you’ve been reading some of my past blog entries closely, this probably won’t come as much of a surprise, considering how often I name check the lovely work of Internet musical art that is Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” While the name may sound silly, “Dr. Horrible” actually digs deep and explores some interesting issues while developing complex, morally ambiguous characters. If you haven't ever checked it out before, watch it below, then continue reading for my analysis- it's really not something that should be missed!

[The video is no longer available on Hulu, but watch it on the CW at 9:00 PM tonight!]

Billy’s approach to life and his decision to become “Dr. Horrible” says a lot about our society. It is difficult to pin down Billy’s political philosophy, but because I have a degree in political science and I’m a Constitutional Law nerd, I’m going to try to anyway. I’m strange, and I like this sort of thing. The line that most succinctly describes Billy’s goals comes from the song “Slipping,” when Billy, in Dr. Horrible mode, is terrorizing the crowd that has gathered for the dedication of the new Caring Hands Homeless Shelter. He describes his ideal government as “Anarchy!/ That I run!” He’s clearly not happy with the current power structure. In his opening monologue to his video blog, Billy says “The status is not quo.” This is reinforced in the opening lines to my favorite song of the piece, “My Eyes,” where Billy sings “Any dolt with half a brain/ can see that humankind has gone insane/ to the point where I don’t know if I’ll upset the status quo/ if I throw poison in the water main.” When Penny first approaches Billy about signing her petition for the new homeless shelter, Billy explains that while he is in favor of helping the homeless, the homeless are just a symptom and “the disease rages on.” Even though he phrases it in an unfortunate way (he wants to “cut off the head” of humanity), it’s clear that Billy thinks that he, as Dr. Horrible, can do a better job of running things than the people currently in charge. It seems like, despite what he sings in “Slipping,” Billy does not actually want Anarchy. The “That I run!” part is certainly true, though. It seems like Billy wants anarchy for himself. He wants to be able to do whatever he wants. But he wants everyone else (except maybe Penny) to live in a dictatorship- his dictatorship.

One of the great things about “Dr. Horrible” is the fact that neither the protagonist (Billy/Dr. Horrible) nor the antagonist (Captain Hammer) are completely good or completely evil. Billy may be a wanna-be supervillain, and he may hatch an ill-conceived plot to kill Captain Hammer, but he is not completely evil. For one thing, he has a limit to how far he’ll go to implement his schemes. Billy is definitely against putting kids in danger. In his opening monologue, he dismisses Johnny Snow’s challenge by saying “there are kids in that park” where Johnny Snow wants to fight. Later, when his sidekick Moist suggests Dr. Horrible can get in the good graces of the Evil League of Evil by killing a kid who is going to be President some day, Billy dismisses that idea, too. Billy’s desire to truly become Dr. Horrible comes from two places. The first is that he feels like Billy as Billy is a loser, but Billy as Dr. Horrible can actually be noticed. He wants for “Penny to see the evil me, not a joke, not a dork, not a failure.” The second is the typical supervillain motivation, with a little (kind of an afterthought) twist. That would be “All the cash!/ All the fame!/ And social change.” So, you see, Billy and his alter-ego Dr. Horrible aren’t just pure evil. He has layers!

Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible’s arch nemesis, is also not entirely good or evil. In theory, as a superhero, he saves the day on a regular basis, but the one example of that we see in “Dr. Horrible” isn’t exactly heroic. He pushes Penny into a trash heap as the van being controlled by Dr. Horrible’s faulty remote control is approaching. It wasn’t Captain Hammer’s (kind of degrading) action that saved Penny, however. Dr. Horrible’s remote just happened to kick back in at just the right time. Captain Hammer also convinces the Mayor to donate a building to the new Caring Hands Homeless Shelter. It’s not clear whether he did this out of goodness or just to get in Penny’s pants. I’d say it was probably some of both. Captain Hammer’s shining moment comes at the beginning of the homeless shelter dedication. He acknowledges that everyone can be a hero, even if the villains they overcome “aren’t as cool as [his].” The fact that he’s acknowledging that anyone other than himself matters is great progress. Unfortunately, that progress doesn’t last long. After suffering minor injuries when Dr. Horrible’s death ray explodes, the fact that he actually felt pain completely incapacitates him. He runs out of the auditorium screaming and is later seen blubbering to his therapist.

Overall, “Dr. Horrible” is most notable for what it accomplished in its medium. Before “Dr. Horrible,” web content wasn’t really know for its quality, even if there was actually some quality content out there (“Dr. Horrible” star Felicia Day’s web show, The Guild, is very entertaining, for instance). Even though its creation required everyone involved to call in many favors, “Dr Horrible” showed that it is possible to make web content with good production values and name actors for the Internet, and that fans will find that content and flock to it in droves. The Emmy win this past weekend is just the industry recognition of all that.

Once Upon a Time 2.02: "We Are Both"

“If you have to use magic to keep your son, you don’t really have him.”
-Charming

“We Are Both” was both intriguing and highly frustrating. I suppose the dichotomy is appropriate for an episode loosely themed around most of the characters feeling conflicted between the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke versions of themselves. The intriguing aspects of the episode mostly centered around Regina’s backstory and her family’s long history with Rumpelstiltskin. The frustrating involved multiple scenes that serve to prove that charming is seriously the worst grandfather. Ever. I really, really wanted to root for him to keep custody of Henry and save Storybrooke, but he really made it difficult. Overall, I found the Enchanted Forest scenes to be much more interesting than the Storybrooke scenes. And really, I think that’s been true of the whole series for me. I enjoy watching the Enchanted Forest scenes because I enjoy the creativity and seeing how the creative team puts their own twist on traditional stories. The Storybrooke plots just seem more shallow in comparison.

Anyway, this particular episode opens in Storybrooke, where the characters are testing the limits of the recent magic-related developments. The dwarfs want to see if they can leave Storybrooke now that the curse has been lifted, so they shove Sneezy over the town line. The result is most definitely not good. He sort of convulses and pulsates with light, and we later learn that he has completely forgotten his Sneezy identity. His Storybrooke identity has taken over for good. The town of Storybrooke itself is a mess, like a horrible storm blew through. Ruby is trying to coordinate the relief effort, directing people to long lost family members and setting up crews to clear debris. Charming, meanwhile, has decided to confront Regina about the hat and the portal, but she’s decidedly unhelpful. The townsfolk are demanding answers, and Charming promises to have a plan figured out in two hours. He walks off, with Henry running after him. And this is the first of many moments in the episode where all I could think was how horrible a grandfather Charming is.

The Enchanted Forest flashback plot of the episode, unsurprisingly, centers on Regina, mostly brought on because her magic’s not working anymore in Storybrooke and she’s getting frustrated. The flashbacks tell the story of how she got magic in the first place. Regina’s wedding to Snow’s father is approaching, and she tries to escape on horseback. Regina’s evil mom, Cora, is one step ahead of her, however, and she catches Regina in some vines. Regina is going to marry the king if it’s the last thing Cora does. We then see Regina fanaticizing about strangling Snow. Regina tells her dad that she wants out of the wedding because it’s making her evil like her mom. Her dad, who is the biggest pushover ever, isn’t much help. The only helpful thing he does is tell Regina that Cora first got magic from a book. In Storybrooke, we see Regina go to Mr. Gold’s shop an demand to have the book back. She threatens to tell everyone that the Enchanted Forest still exists, and Rumpelstiltskin gives in.

We also get a flashback of Regina using the book to call Rumpelstiltskin for the first time. He says that he knew her long ago and they’re back together where they belong. It’s very timey wimey and odd. It appears he was talking about seeing Regina as a baby while working with Cora on magic, but it’s still odd. Rumpelstiltskin teaches Regina all about magic and how to open portals. I didn’t realize that in the rules of “Once Upon a Time,” portals could be opened using methods other than Jefferson’s hat, but apparently that’s the case. Right before the wedding, Cora pays a visit to Regina and gushes about all the horrible things Regina can do with the power she is about to acquire through the wedding. Regina can’t take it anymore, and she overpowers her mother and pushes her through the portal Rumpelstiltskin helped her to create. After all this goes down, Rumpelstiltskin asks Regina how it felt to use magic. Regina says she enjoyed it too much, and she won’t be using it again for that reason.

Back in Storybrooke, David and Henry are looking through Henry’s book, and Henry points out the Mad Hatter’s hat. This looks like what Regina used to create the portal. Charming runs off to Mr. Gold’s shop and leaves Henry alone…again. Charming makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin – Rumpelstiltskin will give Charming a potion that will let Charming find the owner of the hat, and in exchange, Charming and Rumpelstiltskin will have a mutual non-interference agreement. Charming uses the potion on the hat, and he finds Jefferson in a crashed car. Charming confronts Jefferson (after pulling him out of the car, at least), and Jefferson tells Charming that the Enchanted Forest still exists. Before Charming can get any more information, Jefferson runs off. Charming tries to follow, but Ruby stops him and says he needs to pull the town back together before they all cross the town line and lose their Enchanted Forest identities forever.

The reason things are so dire is because Regina has successfully used the book to get her power back. Everyone was gathered in the town hall for Charming’s speech, but Regina crashes the party. She starts using her magic and causing trouble. Henry offers to leave with her to stop her from tearing the place apart, and the plan works. Poor kid. Again, Charming really is the worst.grandfather.ever. Regina hustles Henry back to her house, and as soon as he gets back into his bedroom, he starts trying to climb out the window. Vines from the tree grab him, just like Regina faced in the first flashback. Regina tries to convince Henry that living in a house with magic could be a good thing because he could use it to impress his friends, but Henry’s not buying it. He says he doesn’t want to be like Regina.

Everyone is trying to caravan out of Storybrooke because they’re (understandably) freaked out by Regina’s return, and David and Ruby have to stop them. David finally gets it together and gives an inspiring speech about how the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke memories are both important parts of who they are and they’ll lose themselves if they leave. With that problem solved, Charming heads over to Regina’s house to get Henry back. Regina says that Henry can stay with Charming for now. It’s hard to know if she’s genuinely had a change of heart and regrets her outburst or if she’s just trying to manipulate Henry. She also confirms to Charming that the Enchanted Forest does indeed still exist. The town overall gets back to work, and thanks to a whisper from Henry, Gepetto is on his way to finding Pinocchio/August. Rumpelstiltskin is the only one who is upset. He desperately wants to leave the town to go search for Bae, but he obviously can’t right now. In a sweet scene that should have been the end of the episode, Henry and Charming have sodas together at Granny’s, and Charming assures Henry that Emma and Snow are still alive.

Unfortunately, the episode continues to show us what is actually happening to Snow and Emma. And it’s season 6 “Lost” at the Temple bad. Emma and Snow are tied up, and Mulan is kind of dragging them behind her horse. They finally arrive at the safe area. Snow takes the opportunity to attack Aurora, she and Emma start to run off, but then Mulan throws a rock at Snow and knocks her unconscious. Mulan yells to her minions to take Snow and Emma to “the pit,” and it’s painfully obvious that Mulan is just Ana Lucia with a different face. You would think Eddy and Adam would remember that season 2 is generally everyone’s least favorite season of “Lost,” and Ana Lucia is one of the most reviled characters (maybe only above Nikki and Paolo). Once they’re in the pit, someone asks Emma if she needs help. It’s Cora, which can’t possibly be good.