Comments by OldLeftie

1. Grimm Review: Code Breakers

   3/16/2013 10:54 AM
   
   Poor main story, promising implications. The idea that the procedurals will morph into a modern "Lord of the Rings", where Renard and Nick go off to fight the good fight against the Legion of Darkness makes me salivate.

2. Smash Review: The Hit List is a Go!

   3/16/2013 10:42 AM
   
   It seems from these comments that the writers may think that realistic depictions of showpeople in love should be more interesting to audiences than making them act like everyday people. As someone who started on Broadway nearly 60 years ago, I can tell you that Karen's infatuation with Jimmy is prototypical of the romances I have seen over my career. Actors have to spend their lives faking emotions. Romance is never easy, because only a few actors can control their identities. Why do you think that broadway romances begin and end so abruptly? No actor should be paired with anyone less than 10 years older than they, and few should be paired with fellow actors.
   
   As for last week's episode, I suspect, and hope, that the reformed and repentant Ivy gets the chance to play Marilyn for Tom and Derek gets to direct Karen. Not sure what's going to happen with the Jimmy/Karen/Derek/Ivy quadrangle. If it resolves like a Broadway musical, Jimmy will lose Karen only to get her in the end, and Derek will go back to Ivy once she has proven herself. The tease at the end of this episode was delicious.

3. The Following Review: Rise of the Followers

   3/16/2013 10:29 AM
   
   Only thing worse than last week's show were the defenses of fans on this list. Joe crossed the line when he took Emma. His fidelity to his wife was the one hook for his humanity. He is now totally evil, without hope of redemption. Unlike Hannibal, whose love for Clarice (read the books) redeems him, Joe is nothing more than an animal now. How long are we going to want to watch a story about truly rotten people who don't have the intelligence to kill off their enemies?

4. Elementary Review: B leads to A

   3/16/2013 10:15 AM
   
   The Good: Lucy and Jonny, as usual. There is no more beautiful actress working today than she, and he is the ultimate modern Holmes.
   The Bad: The shopworn deus ex machina storyline... "well, now we should tell you that 18 months before she disappeared, another woman with a bunch of flowers fell off a subway platform." Shades of contrived solutions! Good writing means that you leave clues in plain sight for the audience to notice. There had to be some way the writers could have left us something so that the whole plot doesn't have to hinge on a clue we have never been offered.

5. Grimm Review: A Tentative Truce

   3/9/2013 2:29 PM
   
   Well, the race is on, isn't it? "Grimm", "Touch" and "Cult" all in the same time slot? It's gonna really tax the DVR's, and given that the ratings don't reflect recorded or online viewership, some one or two of them are going to suffer. Right now, if I had to choose, it would be between "Grimm" and "Cult", "Touch" having lost its way in search of a wider audience.
   
   As to last night's episode, I'm ambivalent. I don't fault Nick for leaving the key in his office drawer; after all, it is a police station and Nick doesn't know that Reynard is after it. In fact, why should he even think that Reynard is after it even when Reynard goes after it? Did I miss something? I mean just because Reynard might be lusting after Juliette, why should that mean that he would want the key?
   
   Anyway, let's see where things go from here.

6. Elementary Review: Sober Companion to Companion

   2/15/2013 12:30 PM
   
   Best scene was at the basketball court. Jonny Lee never ceases to amaze/amuse me.
   But I really have to take issue with your self indulgent review. "I feel like the writers of Elementary are reading my Elementary reviews because I have absolutely raved about these scenes and begged for more."
   Do you really think that this episode was so recently filmed that the writers have had time to read reviews and react to them? As Holmes might say, "Really, Ms. Brooks, you'll sprain your wrist if you keep patting yourself on the back!"

7. The Following Review: A Murderous Masterpiece

   1/22/2013 12:45 PM
   
   Obviously an homage to Hannibal and Clarrrrice, and certainly worth a few more hours...
   Just as an aside, why do people post here telling us that they haven't watched it yet?

8. Once Upon a Time Round Table: "The Cricket Game"

   1/11/2013 2:14 PM
   
   continued:
   
   What is Rumplestiltskin doing out of the dungeon on the day of Snow and David's marriage? alternatively, why were we shown him in the dungeon during the early episodes?
   
   The answer to all of these questions is simple: This is a network TV show. Even "Game of Thrones" has its inconsistencies. I am sure that in the end I am going to be disappointed. I'm already getting a bit annoyed. But I identify with Rumplestiltskin, (and think that Robert Carlyle is one of the finest actors at work today), so I'll hang on as long as he's working his magic, black or white.

9. Once Upon a Time Round Table: "The Cricket Game"

   1/11/2013 2:10 PM
   
   I don't want to seem insulting, but isn't it a bit obsessive/compulsive to keep arguing about things like the inconsistencies between Storybrooke's "reality" and ours? For example:
   
   *Heather P. says "the adoption took place in our world." How? If no one can leave Storybrooke except Regina, How is Regina ever going to get a court proceeding going to fight the issue?
   
   There are a lot of small inconsistencies. For example, when did Snow's bed end up in the living room? It wasn't there in earlier episodes. And why were they at Snow's apartment instead of at David's house?
   
   What about the docks? How do Storybrooke characters manage to go out to sea without getting lost?
   
   How does Storybrooke get its food, it's merchandise and anything else from the outside world without those who bring it in being stuck there like Emma or those who go out for it losing their memories?
   
   What is Rumplestiltskin doing out of the dungeon on the day of Snow and David's marriage? alternatively, why were we shown him in the dungeon during the early episodes?
   
   The answer to all of these questions is simple: This is a network TV show. Even "Game of Thrones" has its inconsistencies. I am sure that in the end I am going to be disappointed. I'm already getting a bit annoyed. But I identify with Rumplestiltskin, (and think that Robert Carlyle is one of the finest actors at work today), so I'll hang on as long as he's working his magic, black or white.

10. Once Upon a Time Review: True Love's Mistake

    11/26/2012 1:27 PM
    
    Was I the only one who heard Emma blame Regina for everything after she and Snow had that conversation about guilt? What was that all about? Seems to me that Cora is, was, and likely always will be the cause of everyone's grief. If she hadn't been so fixated on getting a crown for Regina, everyone would have lived.. well you know... except her. She's OUAT's Wicked Witch of the West.

11. Revolution Review: Where Loyalties Lie

    11/13/2012 4:38 PM
    
    Oh, so now we're covering "Macbeth"? And again, why is it that Rachel doesn't seem to care at all about Charlie? Did I miss something?
    Sad to say, like "Awake", this show is getting less and less interesting with each passing episode. I mean, they've been without electricity for 15 years, by now there should be all the technology of the 19th century, and that would mean steam driven airships and vehicles.

12. Revolution Review: Saving Kid Nation

    11/9/2012 8:54 PM
    
    Well, that was an underwhelming episode. I'm beginning to get frustrated. After all, they have watercraft, why not steam engines like that of the railroad?

13. Revolution Review: Saving Kid Nation

    11/9/2012 6:36 PM
    
    OK, so someone tell me why Rachel isn't concerned about Charlie, why Monroe didn't want Charlie when he went after Danny, and why Jason didn't tell his father that the girl who Neville has now ordered executed is Danny's sister....

14. Homeland Review: Tailor Made

    11/6/2012 12:39 PM
    
    Disappointing. Tailor shop massacre unbelievable and overblown. This is, after all, the USA. Things like that don't happen here. No terrorist who could get that much c4 into the country would want to risk his/her being made or having some of his/her people being captured just to secure ordnance. I've noticed other times the writers have taken the easy way out. This is just another example.

15. Dexter Review: Doom, Gloom and Va-Va Voom!

    11/5/2012 11:48 AM
    
    Well, I guess I'm special, because I "saw it coming". I mean it's not all that different from the Lila or Lumen arcs. The sexual tension has been building up since Dexter dropped the swab. And I wasn't impressed by the "do what you have to do." While it was a bit more sanguine (pun intended) than some, certainly others have come close to that level of resignation. I will be very disappointed if, as I expect, Dexter and Hannah become an item for any length of time. It's inevitable, because you can't have Dexter "make love" (quite the euphemism in this case, no) to her without a relationship going on for a while. Maybe it will turn out that she didn't kill her husband and her mentor; or maybe we'll find out that her husband was abusive and her mentor was a baddie. I just figured that sooner or later Dex and Deb would end up as a couple.

16. Once Upon a Time Review: Dangers New and Old

    10/15/2012 1:22 PM
    
    Not impressed. The rationale for Lancelot really being Cora was insufficient. How did s/he manage to be in the pit and out in the village at the same time?
    So now we see the possibility that Regina becomes a good character again with Cora becoming the resident villain. I suppose that works. But I'm really getting tired of trying to figure out how the people in Storybrooke get their food and other things from the outside world if no once can leave once they've gone there. Or is that now changed because of the magic? And what about this new section of town with the docks?

17. The Road Not Taken

    9/17/2012 12:51 PM
    
    terrible. Just terrible. No connection whatsoever to the previous storylines. It looked like they had a few extra scenes from a bunch of episodes and patched them together. There is no logic to Martin and Jake being in Oregon if they were driving from New York to L.A., and no logic to them driving up to Oregon if they had already been to L.A. This episode was a waste. Even the connections made no sense. What did the number 67 have to do with anything? I hope other viewers will check in here. I'm always willing to be informed if anyone has a clue as to what was going on here besides filling up space until the new season starts, and trying to get people who haven't followed the story so far to be interested....

18. Touch Season 2: New Regulars, New Setting

    9/17/2012 12:29 PM
    
    I really hope that "The Road Not Taken" isn't a harbinger of a "dumbed down" season. It was a complete waste of time.