Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Summer Musings

After moving into our new house, Charter decided to make my life wonderful by adding HBO, Showtime, and the other premium movie channels to our cable subscription. This has meant that: a) I can watch True Blood when it originally airs instead of on Surf the Channel a day later, and b) I have access to On-Demand. I have definitely been using this newfound power of mine. In the past week, I watched all the episodes of the new Edie Falco drama, Nurse Jackie; the entire first season of Dexter; and random episodes of Sex and the City, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Party Down. No commercials, just quality television at the press of a button. Magic.

This summer is project time for me.
1) Mom, Claire, and I are halfway through Season 2 of Bones. We girls love us some Seeley Booth.
2) Claire and I are a couple of episodes in to Season 2 of Dexter. She resisted it at first, but now she can't deny that she is intrigued by the show. This is only my second time to watch all the episodes, and I am constantly blown away by Michael C. Hall and how he makes Dexter grow from beginning of S1 to end of S3.
3) My friend Camille and I are working our way through LOST. We started at about episode 2.18 because she had watched those last year but never finished. I think it's a good idea for me to return to the earlier episodes because I see details that I haven't thought about in a while. It gives some perspective to the events of Seasons 4 and 5.
4) And for my own television project, I have started watching Six Feet Under with my friend Will. It is so good- hauntingly beautiful and morbidly funny. The characters are seriously messed up. Frances Conroy is possibly one of my top 5 favorite actresses now. And Alan Ball has definitely joined the pantheon of my television gods.

In addition, I've been keeping up with my regular summer programming, plus a couple extras.

The Closer- The first few episodes have been sad ones. Kitty died, and Brenda was very upset. It seems that marriage has awakened her more emotional side. Now, though, she needs to move past it and give Fritz something to do besides take the cat to the vet! Episode 3 gave Corey Reynolds time to shine when his character, Sgt. Gabriel, shot an unarmed kid while pursuing a murderer. As a result, he was being investigated by a police captain from another department, played by the magnificent Mary McDonnell. She and Brenda engaged in a tug-of-war cat fight for the entire episode that kept me on the edge of my seat. I hope to see more of McDonnell this season! What I need from this show now is a light-hearted episode that features more Lt. Provenza. I want to laugh.

Burn Notice- Michael Westen is no longer bound by chains to "The Management" that burned him, but that means he is also no longer protected by them. So this season began with Michael's arrest. He is being watched and scrutinized by an annoying and inconvenient detective played by Moon Bloodgood. Meanwhile, he is trying to get his spy life back because nothing is standing in his way. This causes some tension with Fi because she wants him to be content with the life they've made for themselves these past couple of years. The standout episode of the season so far was a Collateral-esque thriller that saw the return of clever arms dealer Brennen (played by Jay Karnes) who picked Michael up in a car and said, "Steal this stuff for me today or I will kill your brother, Nate." Michael always breaks out his smartest stuff when his friends and family are in danger, like the Cantenna that used a hanger, some metal washers, and a potato chip can to hack into the bluetooth of Brennen's cell phone.

So You Think You Can Dance- Such a fun show. I fell in love with it last summer, and I'm still enjoying it immensely this season. Granted, there is no "Joshua and Katee" couple that I was instantly attached to and voted for every week. But the format of this show is perfect. It's why I bend my no-reality-tv-shall-ever-pollute-my-brain rule. The choreographers, the dancers, the judges- they're all so entertaining. At this point, I'm rooting for Brandon/Janette and Ade/Melissa.


Nurse Jackie- I've only seen 4 episodes so far, which is too soon to make a solid judgment, but I will say that I instantly got a Mad Men vibe from this show, which bodes well for it. Just like Don Draper in the pilot episode when we got to see the enigmatic man spend a day at work, visit a woman in her NYC apartment, and then drive home to a wife and kids that we didn't see coming, Jackie did almost the exact same thing. She's a tough lady. Yet she has an addiction to pain killers. She is morally ambiguous. She turns a dead kid into an organ donor to save lives. She sleeps with her hospital boyfriend and
then goes home to her adorable daughters and loving husband. Hmmmm.... As for the supporting cast, they are funny and wonderful and pretty much unknowns to me, which I kinda like. The only one I'm familiar with is Peter Facinelli who plays Dr. Cooper. He's adorable.

True Blood- Ahhh, now on to my addiction. The season premiere, "Nothing but the Blood," jumped right back in where we left off. With a foot hanging out of Andy Bellefleur's car. We all feared it would be Lafayette. That's what happens in the book. But Alan Ball cast the entire season in surprise when the foot was revealed to belong to someone else (Miss Jeanette who performed Tara's exorcism). Lafayette is being held as a prisoner by Eric in the basement of Fangtasia because of what happened to Eddie. Bill and Sookie are adjusting to life with Jessica. Jason has joined the inner circle of the Fellowship of the Sun. And Tara is still living with Maryann, whose intentions are very suspect. I could go on and on, believe me, but for now I think I'll just list some of my favorite quotes so far:
"Is there blood in my hair? Pam's going to kill me." -Eric
"We also recycle in this house. TruBlood and other glass items go in the blue container, and paper products go in the white container." -Bill
"Make me a vampire. I'm already a person of poor moral character, so I can hit the ground running." -Lafayette
"I cannot, and I will not, lose you. For all the ways I have dismayed, aggrieved, or failed you, I swear, I will atone. But I am not sorry. I refuse to apologize for what you have awakened in me. You are my miracle, Sookie. For the first time in a hundred and forty years, I've felt something I thought had been lost to me forever. I love you. And for that I shall never feel sorry." -Bill

In my next post, I will take the ballot for the Emmys and make my dream nominations list. If the majority of my picks match with the actual nominations released next month, I might reconsider my boycott. Stay tuned.

No comments: