Do you know what the absolute best moment of the show was for me? When Dexter uttered the word "yes" to Deb's question and Michael C. Hall managed to show relief with his eyes. His eyebrows fluttered up just a little and there was something like freedom in his eyes. It was amazing.
(My gripe for the episode? HOW IN THE HELL is there NOT a CAMERA in the unclaimed baggage room!?!? With security in airports being what it is, HOW WAS THAT KILL EVEN POSSIBLE?)
@Rain--the "white hat" symbolism has been used in relation to both David and Olivia. If you're referring to the conversation Quinn had with Amanda Tanner where she regained Tanner's trust, I'd say Quinn said Olivia rescued her because before working for Olivia, Quinn felt lost. She thought at that point that Olivia saved her from that but didn't yet know that Olivia orchestrated her move to D.C. and still doesn't know it. Should be interesting when she finds out, though.
@Aquariuz and charmed Jenna, In rereading my review, perhaps I *could* give Glee 3.5 stars. And it's not that Glee has to work extra hard compared to other shows. It's that Glee has so much potential to be so much better than other shows and it very often squanders that potential by chasing too many rabbits at once. That will be this season's weakness. There's simply too many characters to keep up.
@N-trophy--EXACTLY. Damian was a one-trick character. They didn't write him as more than a foreign exchange student and while I suppose he could always return, and while I liked Damian, there was very little about Rory that made me want him to stick around. Sam's Joe feels just like you said--insincere. IMO, Sam saw an "in" when Cameron left and he learned that Ryan wanted to write a Christian role. Nothing is ringing true about his being there in that context. Alex, however, brought his OWN character to Ryan, and that was a character that fit with the show. I'm not Rah-Rah'ing any of them, but Alex (and maybe Lindsey, though she bugged me on TGP) makes the most sense to be part of the cast.
While Alex Newell may not have been the 7-episode winner of season 1 of The Glee Project, I was always under the impression that they were all winners, of sorts, especially given the emphasis placed on there being only ONE winner in season 2. Maybe it's a difference in how we're categorizing the contestants, but it hardly seems a sticking point to get...stuck on.
As for missing Finn while Quinn, Santana, and Puck were also absent, it's because Finn was a main character from the beginning while the other three were part of the ensemble who gradually became more important to the show. Since this was kind of a reboot, Finn's absence was the most odd to me.
I'll play Devil's Advocate in regards to Aylin and say that when you have a role that you could write--that of a Muslim female estranged from her religion who has very devout parents--you'd probably have to find someone willing to portray that publicly and accept the backlash from doing so, because there will be backlash. Since Aylin is already there, I understand why they kept her.
I don't at all understand the decision to keep Ali. Not even a little bit.
@Kol--I think the fact that she didn't believe him and didn't ask any questions to determine if he was lying/guessing is part of what made me sort of dislike this episode. She'd just watched him lift Chester's hypnosis. He came to her talking about Charlie, about whom he had no way really of knowing. It just...it was weird.
I see Joel's interest in Alex forming, but I don't necessarily see Alex forming any interest in Joel.
@Guenon, yes, Charlie did say he is on the Autism spectrum, but he didn't specify his diagnosis beyond that. Having been an educator, I've thought all along that some of his manner is likely attributed to that. I can only assume that since they're not talking about it, it's because he chooses not to define himself in that way. Or, he's saving it as an Ace up his sleeve for later.
I agree with you 100% about Tyler. He's sweet. He has a great heart. And I'm rooting for him. Just not this season.
@Aquariuz, did you think Michael needed to go home or is your sadness because he bombed last night in the studio and during his Last Chance performance?
Regarding Goran, it's not that he CAN'T be a womanizer, or isn't. It's that so far, the character just doesn't FEEL that way. Sure, he cut in line to get coffee. (Kind of small potatoes on the scale of jerk moves, if you ask me.) But the scene with the patient and the blood doesn't scream self-absorbed and narcissistic. It screams "well, if this patient wants to die, that's her choice, but I'm going to have this available just in case." It's MORE narcissistic of him to save the guy's arm because he thought saving it was the better choice than the blood transfusion, but even that feels less like a jerk-move and more like he wanted to save his patients.
I guess the bottom line is that TO ME he just doesn't seem like a jerk yet. Maybe we all see him differently and that's okay.
@Wendy--you raise interesting points, particularly as it concerns Alex and her processing of Charlie's condition. I still think she was TOO nice in the scenes with the ex-wife, and one can be slightly bristled and still listen to new ideas.
Regarding the set, yes, it's designed to appear to be a neat and orderly hospital. Maybe it's the lighting or the background noise, but something I can't quite articulate feels like I'm watching a scene be filmed as a mockery of a medical drama. Like scenes on medical shows when a doctor goes to a movie set to consult on a film and we see the actors overdoing their lines on a soundstage. I just think the cast hasn't settled into the role yet, nor have the kinks been worked out with how the show is supposed to look.
I don't know. I guess I can see why they'd save all three of them based strictly on the reasons they gave for putting them in the bottom three in the first place. Had they seen what we saw with Mario and his attitude after performing and then not sent him home, I'd be kind of peeved. But, given what they knew, I can understand giving them all another chance. Then again, Alex pulled this "I'm better than y'all" nonsense last year and look where it got him.
@Fruit Salad--"Gillies so pretty they can make him a schizophrenic drug dealer with mommy issues and I'll still be watching."
Amen to that.
@Shaerra--Yes, the medicine is meant to drive the personal situations/storylines, but so far the way the lack of comfort the actors have with the medical aspect of the show takes me out of the scene. It's too formal and nothing feels natural at all about it. That could be attributed just as much to the sets as to the speech though. The set is too staged and perfect.
The thing with Goran's supposed womanizing is that Gillies himself has said that Goran is supposed to be a man who's "not quite a narcissist but definitely sees himself as the center of his own universe." So far there is very little about this character that seems that way. He seems overly caring. There's no mention of a change of heart or character between the time he was his previous hospital and this one.
As for Maggie, when she asked the psych resident to meet her in the cubicle, it was to meet with the girl who poisoned the boy she had a crush on. The two of them conspired to set the two kids up, evidenced by their (the kids) make-out session. Standing in line for coffee, she was very unsure of herself. She said she had a crush on the doctor but seemed unaware of how she processes that sort of thing and made a comment to that effect to the psych resident. The next thing we know she's hitting on Goran in the scrub room. It doesn't match up.
@Danny--To be fair to me, I AM trying it. Every week. Just like y'all are. It has so much potential to be a really interesting show if only it gets the kinks worked out quickly.
@Wendy--Here's the thing. I understand WHY Alex is so pragmatic. Completely. But, it's a normal human reaction to show emotion in time like this. It's only been three days since his accident. She was entirely too relaxed in the scenes with his ex wife which makes their relationship less believable. I want to root for him to wake up so that they can be together but there's very little about her that makes me do that. You're on to something about her arc being that she has to find a way to trust other people's kindness again. (cont)
Maybe the blue filter will be like the crow and the fog from the beginning of The Vampire Diaries and after an episode or three the producers will tire of it and it'll disappear. I hope.
Y'all bring up an interesting point. I did notice an unusual number of "stories" this season compared to last. However, we've only seen a snippet of these people so far, you know? We didn't see their audition tapes or live auditions, so I'm willing to cut a little slack until then.
To a certain extent, it's smart to find someone with a story you've been thinking of writing into your show, but you have to pick the right person to carry out that story. I think Samuel's Christianity storyline fell flat because it didn't seem like that's who he was until Cameron went home. Alex, however, DID sing in drag, so doing that on the show made sense.
@Lois--I saw that, too, and I agree that it was kind of distracting. I thought it was perhaps on the screener and pilot and I'm interested to see if that blue light will be returning next week. However, I think the lighting in general for this show is supposed to be kind of gauzy and spectral since we're dealing with ghosts and Charlie's spirit, so maybe it was intentional.
@Kol--I watched an interview clip with Gillies and Durance and both said that the show will have flashbacks in each episode, so yes, hopefully we'll get to see why she thinks he's a jerk.
@kap21--That final scene was just kind of crushing, wasn't it? She'd been holding it all together and then just couldn't anymore. And, like I mentioned in my response to Kol, flashbacks are going to happen.
@Mrs. Alex--Isn't that hint of the New Zealand accent just incredibly sexy? I love it.
First, I could've SWORN I wrote a paragraph expressing disdain for Kurt not getting accepted to NYADA, and no, it's not there. My apologies, y'all. It really makes no sense to me why he wouldn't have gotten accepted. I can't imagine what Murphy is planning to do with this now. It's not fair to the character at all and is counter to everything we've been building toward for three years--Rachel and Kurt take Manhattan--though part of me hoped that Kurt and Finn would be accepted and Rachel wouldn't. Just know that I'm as bothered as all of you are.
Yes, this episode was rushed. There was so much to cover but parts didn't seem worth covering. I, too, could've complained about the actual graduation scene because it seemed far beyond the realm of normal, but then I reminded myself that this is TV and moved on.
@Adam--No, sharing your personal life with your students isn't discouraged where I teach, and in fact, I do share a great deal of my personal life with my students. However, I don't know many teachers who would share that they are victims of domestic violence WHILE they are victims. After the fact? Sure. But not in the middle of it. The girls going to find her in the teacher's lounge to confront her isn't how things would occur in most scenarios. Puck helping her while she's helping him and him being unaware of it is far more likely.
I'm annoyed with myself for not remembering that Shue is no longer teaching Spanish. However, if he's teaching history/geography, I'm freaking more annoyed that he's not helping Puck study.
@carda--I think the thing w/ Cooter is that we don't really know WHAT Cooter was like before they got married. Perhaps the signs that he had an anger problem were there. Plus, she did give him a second chance when she didn't leave the first time. The fact that he specifically asked for a "second chance" last night is semantics.
Pretty Little Liars
Comments by Miranda Wicker (Page 7)
Dexter Review: Are You a Serial Killer?
(My gripe for the episode? HOW IN THE HELL is there NOT a CAMERA in the unclaimed baggage room!?!? With security in airports being what it is, HOW WAS THAT KILL EVEN POSSIBLE?)
Scandal Season Premiere Review: Two Sides To Every Story
Scandal Season Premiere Review: Two Sides To Every Story
Glee Review: A Change Will Do You Good
Glee Round Table: "Britney 2.0"
Glee Season 4 Premiere Review: A New Direction
Glee Season 4 Premiere Review: A New Direction
As for missing Finn while Quinn, Santana, and Puck were also absent, it's because Finn was a main character from the beginning while the other three were part of the ensemble who gradually became more important to the show. Since this was kind of a reboot, Finn's absence was the most odd to me.
The Glee Project Review: Lights, Camera, Action
I don't at all understand the decision to keep Ali. Not even a little bit.
Saving Hope Review: Pain and Suffering
I see Joel's interest in Alex forming, but I don't necessarily see Alex forming any interest in Joel.
The Glee Project Review: Let's Get It On
I agree with you 100% about Tyler. He's sweet. He has a great heart. And I'm rooting for him. Just not this season.
I'd like to lose Ali before losing Lily.
The Glee Project Review: Let's Get It On
Just curious, mostly.
Jessica Sanchez Nearing Deal to Appear on Glee Season 4
Saving Hope Review: Break On Through To The Other Side
I guess the bottom line is that TO ME he just doesn't seem like a jerk yet. Maybe we all see him differently and that's okay.
Saving Hope Review: Break On Through To The Other Side
Regarding the set, yes, it's designed to appear to be a neat and orderly hospital. Maybe it's the lighting or the background noise, but something I can't quite articulate feels like I'm watching a scene be filmed as a mockery of a medical drama. Like scenes on medical shows when a doctor goes to a movie set to consult on a film and we see the actors overdoing their lines on a soundstage. I just think the cast hasn't settled into the role yet, nor have the kinks been worked out with how the show is supposed to look.
The Glee Project Review: Everybody Hurts
Saving Hope Review: Break On Through To The Other Side
Amen to that.
@Shaerra--Yes, the medicine is meant to drive the personal situations/storylines, but so far the way the lack of comfort the actors have with the medical aspect of the show takes me out of the scene. It's too formal and nothing feels natural at all about it. That could be attributed just as much to the sets as to the speech though. The set is too staged and perfect.
Saving Hope Review: Break On Through To The Other Side
As for Maggie, when she asked the psych resident to meet her in the cubicle, it was to meet with the girl who poisoned the boy she had a crush on. The two of them conspired to set the two kids up, evidenced by their (the kids) make-out session. Standing in line for coffee, she was very unsure of herself. She said she had a crush on the doctor but seemed unaware of how she processes that sort of thing and made a comment to that effect to the psych resident. The next thing we know she's hitting on Goran in the scrub room. It doesn't match up.
Saving Hope Review: Break On Through To The Other Side
@Wendy--Here's the thing. I understand WHY Alex is so pragmatic. Completely. But, it's a normal human reaction to show emotion in time like this. It's only been three days since his accident. She was entirely too relaxed in the scenes with his ex wife which makes their relationship less believable. I want to root for him to wake up so that they can be together but there's very little about her that makes me do that. You're on to something about her arc being that she has to find a way to trust other people's kindness again. (cont)
Saving Hope Review: The Space Between
The Glee Project Review: Here They Go Again
To a certain extent, it's smart to find someone with a story you've been thinking of writing into your show, but you have to pick the right person to carry out that story. I think Samuel's Christianity storyline fell flat because it didn't seem like that's who he was until Cameron went home. Alex, however, DID sing in drag, so doing that on the show made sense.
Saving Hope Review: The Space Between
Saving Hope Review: The Space Between
@kap21--That final scene was just kind of crushing, wasn't it? She'd been holding it all together and then just couldn't anymore. And, like I mentioned in my response to Kol, flashbacks are going to happen.
@Mrs. Alex--Isn't that hint of the New Zealand accent just incredibly sexy? I love it.
Glee Season Finale Review: Pomp and Circumstance
Yes, this episode was rushed. There was so much to cover but parts didn't seem worth covering. I, too, could've complained about the actual graduation scene because it seemed far beyond the realm of normal, but then I reminded myself that this is TV and moved on.
Glee Review: We Are The Champions
Glee Review: We Are The Champions
@carda--I think the thing w/ Cooter is that we don't really know WHAT Cooter was like before they got married. Perhaps the signs that he had an anger problem were there. Plus, she did give him a second chance when she didn't leave the first time. The fact that he specifically asked for a "second chance" last night is semantics.