Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: Season 1, Episode 9 – “The Option Period”

studio 60 the option period

The Plot: The episode begins with the closing of last week’s Studio 60 show. Well, actually, since last week I was down and out, let’s talk about that episode too. My recap of that will be short since I didn’t take notes and my memory is faulty.

Though he suffers a few more small-town shenanigans, Tom is released from jail when the judge finds out that Tom’s brother is serving multiple tours in Iraq. The Chinese girl discovers a tabloid that gossips about what Jordan’s ex-husband has been blathering about. She shows her dad and then misinterprets him as saying that Jordan has brought shame unto herself and NBS. Jack then goes into a furious rant about how Jordan and the entire crew have a great deal of character for going through the mess they just went through and that the Chinese man can basically shove it. It was a great feel-good, stand-up, and cheer moment.

There is then a realization that the interpretation was wrong and that what was actually said was that the ex-husband was disgraceful and brought shame upon himself.

This week is another continuation of the plot, beginning as last week’s Studio 60 show ends.

The show actually ended 36 seconds short causing guest host Jessica Simpson to ask for prayers for the “mid-west” as opposed to the Middle East where the war is happening. Many jokes about the poor people from Indiana were made.

The show ended early due to Ron and Ricky printing the script on the wrong paper, or font. That’s some pretty deep insider stuff there but apparently longer shows are printed differently than shorter half-hour shows. The number of pages a script comes in indicates precisely how long the show will run. Ron and Ricky are writing a half-hour show, entitled “Peripheral View Man” for another network in an attempt to leave Studio 60.

The only problem is that NBS holds the rights to “Peripheral View Man” until the day ends. As Matt discovers all of this he threatens to option the show again just to screw with Ron and Ricky. Some pretty bitter stuff comes out of this as Ron lays all of his frustrations of being essentially made a lame duck out to Matt and then leaves. Matt eventually agrees to let them have it and to let the two men go. As they leave they indicate they’ll be taking all of the writing staff save the new guy and the Australian chick (I know I should know their names, but darned if I can find them.)

Harriett is thinking of doing a magazine spread in nothing but her skivvies. She’s doing this because she was turned down for a starring movie role due to people not thinking she is sexy enough. Simon and Tom try to talk her out of it because they feel it will hurt her image as a good Christian woman. Matt also tries to talk her out of it, but he claims that she would only be doing it out of revenge, and that’s not the type of person she is. In doing so he seems to talk himself out of optioning “Peripheral View Man,” too.

Jordan tells Danny that he either has to fire 15 people or start using product placement. This all stems from the fact that the Chinese man is doing his deal with NBS. Here it again gets pretty insider, but the basics of the financial mumbo jumbo is that the investment takes a great deal of money which makes them have to cut back elsewhere.

Much wrangling ensues, but Cal finally finds a solution in changing the main set to look like Sunset Strip. Since Sunset is full of its own giant billboards, it can mimic them and sell its own advertising.

Review: ****

This was the funniest episode I have seen to date. Generally, there are a few good jokes scattered throughout, but the concentration remains on the drama. Tonight, while still staying within character and the drama, they were throwing down some beautiful jokes.

I especially enjoyed Simon and Tom trying to talk Harriet out of the photo shoot, while still insisting they are pro-naked girls.

The drama played itself out nicely. It was a little less melodramatic than previous episodes sticking mostly to the lingerie shoot and having product placements. To me, this is where the show should stay. Good drama doesn’t have to be so serious. More humor balances it out and makes a better show.

It doesn’t look like they will be following my advice though, since the episode ended with Danny telling Jordan that she will probably be fired. The preview for next week indicates that’s exactly what will happen.

Random Shuffle (11/20/06) – Liz Phair, Martha Wainwright, Depeche Mode, Van Morrison, & Echo & the Bunnymen

“Never Said” – Liz Phair
From Exile in Guyville

In the mid-1990s I was on a plane flying from Birmingham Alabama to Tulsa Oklahoma. This was a trip I normally made by automobile, but I had recently fallen inexplicably ill. Being a freshman in college I was not accustomed to being inexplicably ill while all alone, hence the trip home via airplane.

On the plane, I was actually feeling pretty healthy and virile thanks to the lovely lady who took her seat next to mine. Perhaps seeing my Walkman or my copy of Spin magazine (in the days when having a copy of Spin magazine exuded a cool hipness) she struck up a conversation about music. The topics ranged from Fugazi and Dinosaur Jr to inevitably Nirvana. She asked me if I liked Liz Phair, and I had to admit that though I had heard good things, I had not actually listened to her. She raved about how amazing and beautiful Phair was and highly recommended I listen to her soon.

As these things do, the conversation waned and we went about reading our magazines and carried through the annoyance that is flying. A few bits of conversation were had here and there and then the plane landed and we departed. I made a mental checklist to listen to Liz Phair as soon as I could and went along my sickly way.

As it turns out I didn’t promptly listen to Ms. Phair and it was in fact this last year that I ever managed to get a copy of Exile in Guyville for a listen. What I was waiting for, I don’t know, but I wish I had paid more attention to that vixen. It is a beautiful and beautiful album full of angst, poetry, and raw emotion.

“Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole” – Martha Wainwright
From Martha Wainwright

Speaking of angst, poetry, and raw emotion, Martha Wainwright has plenty of each flowing from her mouth like blood from a lanced tongue. This song just slays. Her voice is tortured and strangled and pulls it all out of me until I lie flat and still gasping for life.

I can’t say I’m much of a fan of any of the Wainwrights, either Loudon or Rufus. I’m not overly familiar with their music, but what I have heard hasn’t made me seek them out either. They get praised well enough that I continue to think I should dig into their well farther, but well, so it goes. When the Duke lauded Martha with praise and sent a few tunes to the mp3 project I anxiously checked them out.

Sweet chimichanga that girl has got something. Her voice isn’t what you would exactly call beautiful, but there is a certain poetry to her words and such effectiveness in the way she sings that it doesn’t matter.

I honestly don’t really know what she’s singing about here, but whatever it is it breaks your heart. She projects such gut-wrenching emotion

“Just Can’t Get Enough” – Depeche Mode
From Speak and Spell

In my junior high to be hip you had to love U2 and you had to adore Depeche Mode. This was pre-Joshua Tree and Violator so neither of those bands had reached worldwide superstardom yet, though they weren’t exactly unknown indie bands either (this was Oologah Oklahoma, we didn’t know what the heck an indie band was, so just not being on the national charts was obscure enough.) Frankly, I never was all that hip in high school, but my brother was and he used to play the heck out of both bands.

This is the only Depeche Mode song that stuck and has lasted in my head all these years later.

It’s some darn fine synth pop too.

I still have vague memories of the cool kids mimicking the synch beats while goofing in drama class.

“Bucket’s Got a Hole in It” – Van Morrison
From Pay the Devil

From the moment I heard “Tupelo Honey” I knew I’d be a Van Morrison fan forever. I was actually a casual fan before that moment, but that song sealed the deal. I know how people hate to hear about me discovering an artist through their greatest hits packages, but I went through a short period where all I was doing was picking up Best Ofs. I didn’t have the cash to shell out for entire record collections, and this was before I had an internet connection, or even knew of such a place where you could go and get suggestions of which album to start with, so a greatest hits deal seemed like the best way to get a good foundation on who an artist was. I’ll still stand by that idea, for that time at least. I now can download a few songs, listen to snippets at Amazon, or search out my knowledge basis for the best places to start with, but then it made your purchase and pray it comes out all right. And for my money, a hits package was the best bet.

So anyway, I had the first volume of Van’s greatest hits and loved it. It’s filled with such classics as “Domino,” “Wild Nights,” and “Brown Eyed Girl.” It’s great music and worth every penny. I decided I could be a fan, but instead of searching out a single album, perhaps something with a few songs I now knew I loved, I went for the volume two greatest hits. I should have known better. Few artists have that many greatest hits, and Van’s was filled with maudlin, sappy religious numbers. Gone were the two-stepping beats and killer horn section. Instead, it was slow melodies and sad strings. (Editor’s Note: I obviously love the songs on Volume 2 now.)

Van laid low in my collection for a long time after that. Eventually, I was trolling Napster for some good love songs to put on a mix tape for a girl. “Tupelo Honey” was found and I was back on the track to Vandom once again. I’ve since nabbed many a Van Morrison album and my love has never stopped.

This is Van’s recent take on classic country songs. Honestly, I haven’t given it my full attention yet, just let it play in the background a few times, but from what I can hear he’s still got it.

“The Killing Moon” – Echo and the Bunnymen
From Ocean Rain

Man, what’s up with this list? It is random, but still nabs two alternative 80’s tracks and two raw, powerful women, and Van Morrison.

Back again to junior high (or maybe it was high school, the memory fades these days) the church we went to had just hired a new youth guy and he was chatting me up trying to get a lay of the kids and make us believe he was a cool guy. Anyways he asks me about music and I say I’m into alternative stuff like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and all that stuff when he asks me about Echo and the Bunnymen. Knowing the name and maybe a couple of songs I say ‘yeah’ and act like they are the coolest. He brings up the soundtrack to the movie Lost Boys and the song “Cry Little Sister” thinking that was Echo and the Bunnymen (though they did cover a version of “People Are Strange” on the soundtrack it was Gerard McMann who did the song in question). Not knowing any better I agreed that it was killer and we basked in our coolness.

We did become great friends, though I learned he wasn’t an Echo fan either, and not really very cool at that.

This particular song I got on a compilation disk from Spin magazine (see there are themes to this post) along with a bunch of other indie/alternative bands they were promoting at the time. It’s still a great song, and I still dig “Cry Little Sister” too.

The Simpsons: Season 18, Episode 6 – “Moe ‘N’ a Lisa”

the simpsons moe n a lisa

Coming off of the lackluster Treehouse of Horror, the Simpsons created what may be the best episode of the season thus far. It was filled with good gags, good guest appearances, and a good story. I’m also feeling a bit better from a week of the flu and nothing but lousy. This means the blog should get some more regular updating, and hopefully reviews of all the stuff I missed last week.

Best Line: “That’s it Franzen, I think your nose needs some ‘Corrections.’”

Guest Stars: Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen, and JK Simmons.

Plot: Homer wakes up to find the words “Don’t Forget” inscribed all over the house (including his belly, the dog and cat, and from alphabet cereal coughed up by Maggie,) yet he cannot remember what he is not supposed to forget. Marge reminds him that they are supposed to go to the senior Olympics to watch Grandpa participate. As they leave, Moe calls dressed in a fishing outfit and leaves a message for Homer to pick him up for their birthday outing.

Grandpa wants desperately to win the gold as he fears this will be his last Olympics (his first being at Berlin in 1936 where he nearly javelined Hitler to death but missed, killing an actual assassin instead.) But Grandpa can’t catch a break, losing every event, until he drops his dentures. Groundskeeper Willie picks them up, but a wardrobe malfunction makes him look like the Grim Reaper and a scared Grandpa picks up steam to win the race.

Later as the Simpsons return home, Homer sees Moe on their doorstep and remembers what he forgot. Ducking down in the car to hide they drive to the back of the house where they then eat their dinner hiding under the table. Though Marge says “We can’t scuttle around like craps for the rest of our lives,” Homer continues to crawl around the floor reaching upwards for food, and eventually gets into a crab-like fight with Bart.

Moe throws a brick through the window and Lisa is intrigued by his desperate, sadly poetic words. Looking for a hero to write an essay about she follows Moe home and finds that he scribbles his poetry onto sticky notes. With Moe’s permission, she combines the notes into a larger poem and submits it to a poetry magazine where it is turned into a book. Moe quickly becomes a poetry sensation.

At the WordLoaf conference, he is met by such luminaries as Gore Vidal and Tom Wolfe. Fearing he’ll be kicked out for getting help from Lisa, Moe acts as if he came up with the title for his book (when in fact Lisa did) and needed no help whatsoever with his writing.

When asked to write a new poem for his acceptance as “Best New Poet” Moe asks Lisa to help him, but she refuses. So, Moe steals an elevator warning sign and the motel television guide and reads those. He is booed and jeered until Lisa walks in at which point Moe makes up a heartfelt poem asking for forgiveness.

Rating: ****

Had this been season five this episode would have probably received a lesser rating, but this was one of the best episodes I’ve seen in many a year. The gags were very clever and the story flowed quite well. The wife and I both laughed heartily throughout. So much so that I didn’t even think to actually count the number of times. A very good sign indeed.

Best Moments:

Grandpa after he nearly killed Hitler with a javelin: “The next time I saw Hitler we had dinner and laughed about it.”
Grandpa to what he thinks is the Grim Reaper, while holding Bart hostage: “Take the boy, his soul is fresher.”
The poetry magazine editor acts exactly like the newspaper boss in Spiderman.
Homer to a man whose house he has just driven through (because he thought it was a covered bridge): “We should exchange insurance information. I have none.”
Moe to the geese who are eating his poetic sticky notes: “Stupid geese, you’re eating my brilliance.”
The whole Franzen, Chabon exchange was just brilliant.

Lost: Season 3, Episode 6 – “I Do”

lost i do

The Revelations:

Jack decides to operate on Ben
Kate learns about the two islands
Locke sees “Lift up your eyes and look north” written on Eko’s stick.

The Plot: The episode focused mainly on Jack, Sawyer, and Kate, but we did catch a quick flashback of Eko’s funeral. Just prior to the funeral Sayid and Locke have a discussion about the Big Black Smoke thing.

While Kate and Sawyer are working, Alex comes running out with a slingshot and makes the most of it before she is captured.

Jack tells Ben he will not operate on him and that he’ll enjoy watching him die, and that will be right soon. Pickett begins eyeing Sawyer again, and Juliet tells Kate that unless Jack operates, Sawyer will die. She then leads Kate to Jack, and there is a nice reunion before Kate begs for Sawyer’s life. Jack again refuses.

Emotional Kate climbs over to Sawyer’s cage and admits she loves him and they sex it up.

Jack hears a voice on his intercom and finds his door open. Down the hall, another door is opened leading to the video chamber, which happens to have a monitor on the naked Sawyer and Kate. Ben comes in and Jack says that he’ll operate for his freedom.

During the operation, Jack slices into Ben’s liver giving him a hospital hostage of sorts. He uses this leverage to free Kate and Sawyer.

The Flashback: Kate marries a Miami police officer and tries to have a normal life. She even calls the US Marshall to beg for her life. The Marshall says she can have it, but only if she stays put. She can’t stay put and winds up admitting everything to her husband before drugging him and running.

The Review: **1/2

The flashback was totally pointless. It was boring and didn’t add much to Kate’s character. The only thing to really gain from it was that she can’t stay still and truly trust anyone, well until she gives herself to Sawyer.

Most of the episode was pretty dull. It only got interesting when Jack sliced into Ben, and that was the last quarter. I did dig the note on Eko’s stick and am anxious to see where it leads.

Admittedly I was thoroughly distracted during this episode. My parents came home in the middle of it and asked me a ton of questions. They don’t watch it but decided to start quizzing me on it while it was airing. Then my cousin came by and kept asking about my notebook (on which I write my show notes.)

From the Alex show, there were some cryptic conversations that make it sound as if she made it to the second island on her own. Seemingly there is another way across other than by boat or the submarine. Perhaps Kate and Sawyer will find the way.

I suspect Locke will indeed look North and find the island. If they realize what they are up against, perhaps they will revolt and get somewhere.

This was the last episode until next year. The interim show, Daybreak looks interesting. If it is I’ll keep up with it here.

House: Season 3, Episode 6 – “Que Sera Sera”

house que sera sera

The Lead In: Firefighters find a gigantically obese man in a relatively burned-out apartment. Thinking he is dead they flirt with fat jokes and try to remove the body until the man farts. Realizing he is alive the fat man is rushed to the hospital.

The Plot: Though the MRI table is not rated to withhold a man of that size, Cameron insists they try. In the middle of the MRI the fat man, George awakens, freaks out over being in the strange machine, and collapses the table.

Awakened, George simply wants to be released. Though the doctors urge him to undergo tests to determine what is wrong, George is tired of doctors treating him for his obesity and wants to be left alone. As he is walking out of the hospital, he collapses and crashes through a window. We later learn that Cameron drugged him to keep him in the hospital.

Thinking it could be a parasite House orders brain surgery. During the surgery, George goes blind and again freaks out. They find no parasites, and House orders a diabetes test. George refuses the tests stating that he will only be treated for non-eating related disorders, as he has been fat his entire life and not had this problem.

After trying to force the sugar water on George, House notices an abnormality in his hand and determines the problem.

The Diagnosis: Lung cancer.

The Subplot: In continuation with last week’s episode, Detective Tritter is still after House. In a search of House’s house, Tritter discovers a large bag full of Vicoden. This adds drug trafficking to the list of charges against House.

Eventually, House gets a good lawyer and the charges seem to be dropped, though the episode ends with Tritter quizzing Wilson about his prescriptions for the Vicoden. He is especially interested in a few signatures that don’t seem to match and vaguely threatens Wilson to tell the truth or face trouble.

Best Lines:

House (while in jail): Hey Gomer Pyle, I know you can hear me.
Tritter: I think you mean Barney Fife.
House: So many idiot icons to choose from.

House: Apparently Cuddy has widened her sperm donor search to Neanderthals. (Answering the question as to who Tritter is when he leaves the hospital.)

Review: ***

They attempted to give George an interesting personality, and mostly they got it right. I dig that he isn’t ashamed of his obesity, and even felt a little for him having to constantly deal with doctors trying to treat him for the same types of diseases because he is fat. But they pushed that a little hard and he wound up looking like a crazy crybaby. Ultimately the episode felt like a means to make fat jokes and have a bizarre character for ratings.

I still dig the whole Detective subplot, but it seems to be taking a lot away from the main story. The last two weeks have proven to be very weak in the medical mysteries area. I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t a strategy to move a little bit away from the mysteries to give the show a longer life. As my mom says, every episode is the same – somebody has a weird illness, and House makes wisecracks then figures it out. By creating an interesting subplot they could be changing the show a little bit to make it more interesting.

We’ll see.

Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip: Season 1, Episode 7 – “Nevada Day, Part 1”

studio 60 nevada day

Originally written on November 08, 2006.

With declining ratings, there is much talk of Studio 60 being canceled. Being the best show on television right now, I for one hope it isn’t so. Before I get into this week’s episode I am going to rant for 446 words.

The Rant:

In the article I just linked to and all across the internet there is quite a bit of heated discussion about this show and Aaron Sorkin in general. As is typical for internet discussion the talk quickly turns nasty and we get a fine bit of banter consisting of “this show is too smart for the stupid, slovenly masses” and “Actually I’m a genius and this show has terrible writing.”

All of this has made me ponder why I like the show so much, and as my captive audience, you get to follow me through it.

I’ve always dug behind-the-scenes looks at whatever and especially dig behind-the-scenes looks at movies. I’ve never seen a movie about making movies I didn’t like, and it is fascinating to me to watch these guys struggle to make TV every week.

The fact is I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live in years, but I don’t care. This show isn’t SNL. It isn’t even a behind-the-scenes look at SNL. It’s fiction. The argument that SNL isn’t relative anymore doesn’t make sense to me. This isn’t a show about how awesome sketch comedy is, it’s about making a sketch comedy show. Are the characters passionate about making their show? Certainly, but why is this a negative? Should they just throw the slop together? In its prime SNL was top-notch comedy, and you can bet it took a lot of work to make it. That’s what these guys are trying to do.

I also love the ensemble and that we get to follow multiple storylines. If the show lasts, this will make for better TV as we have so many characters’ lives to take part in. Though the show is taking hits for taking shots at Christianity I find that it is carrying on some of the most thoughtful debate on religion in the media. Harriet is the kind of Christian that I find in real life, not the ones you see on TV. She’s not Catholic nor the die-hard fundamentalist that runs from everything liberal. She’s a normal sort of person trying to live her life right but is still kind to those who don’t believe.

Sure, the non-Christians get the better lines, but there is a real dialogue going on which is more than you can say for most outlets.

I like the writing, I like the dialogue, I like the actors. Geez, I even like Matthew Perry and he’s usually as annoying as crap. I don’t care if others don’t like it or think the dialogue is crap. I’m not better than them. But I do hope enough people watch to keep the show going.

The plot: This is the first part of a two-parter which will conclude next week. It was also an experimental episode chronologically, meaning that the opening scene actually takes place at the end of this episode and most likely in the middle of the action of the two parts. From the opener, the rest of the episode jumps around in time explaining the peculiar events that we see as the show opens.

The peculiar event is Tom (who is dressed as Jesus) who has been arrested and put into a Pahrump, Nevada jail. There to rescue him are Simon (who is there because Tom was wearing his jacket, which contained a marijuana joint), Danny, an NBS lawyer, Jack, and two unknown Chinese people.

Tom is dressed as Jesus because he was rehearsing for a skit when the LA police arrested him. He was arrested because he assaulted a gay man. He assaulted a gay man because the man and his buddies were harassing Harriet. They were harassing Harriet because she was quoted in a tabloid as having said that the Bible condemns homosexuality. She was actually misquoted and her real speech spoke more towards tolerance than condemnation. He is in a Nevada jail because there was a warrant out for his arrest. He has a warrant against him because he got a speeding ticket there and never showed up to pay it.

Jack is at the jail because the older Chinese man (who could be responsible for a very lucrative NBC deal) is there. He is there because his daughter (and translator) is there. She is there because she wanted to meet Tom, and was willing to take a detour from her flight to New York. And Tom is there because…well you know why Tom is there.
The review: ***1/2

Another very good episode. The whole Pulp Fiction time blender was both interesting and annoying. Interesting because it is fun to see the weird ending and see how they got there piecemeal. It is annoying for basically the same reason. That maneuver kind of ruins the impact of the events. When the dog finds the pot in the jacket, we already know there is pot in the jacket and that the cops will find it. We only don’t know how they find it, but when they do it isn’t a surprise, and thus not emotionally impacting. This type of thing has also been done plenty of times before, but every time it is done they act like it is innovative.

It isn’t. Stop doing it. Show the events in order. It’s better that way.

Otherwise, I liked it. I really do like the Harriet character. I really do like that everyone mocks her beliefs but she hangs tight with them.

I still say the skits are funny. Everybody else disagrees. But Jesus as the head of Standards and Practices is funny. The skit a few episodes ago with Simon in the rain was funny. Sure, not all of them are killer (at least what we are allowed to see) and Harriet isn’t brilliant with impressions, but what I’ve seen here is much funnier than the last skits I saw from SNL.

Oh, and I loved John Goodman as the judge.

Best Lines:

Harriet: I said the Bible says it’s a sin. It also says judge not lest ye be judged, and that it was something for smarter people than me to decide.
Matt: “Ye” is a word you don’t hear a lot.
Harriet: I manage to see every piece of my press.
Matt: We have a press department, I get a daily press packet. They highlight what they want me to see – this one has a highlight, an arrow, and a sticker!
Harriet: Well, as I said, they left out the second sentence.
Matt: Yeah, can I ask you something? Does your ass hurt from straddling the fence like that all the time?

Matt: It’s one thing to be asked to respect someone else’s religion, it’s another to be asked to respect their taboos. In my religion, it’s disrespectful to God not to keep your head covered. You don’t see me insisting that the cast of CSI: Miami wear yarmulkes.
Danny: That’d be an unusual creative direction for CSI: Miami

Matt: You don’t like kids and dogs?
Jordan: Yeah. Or orphans. Why? Is that bad?
Matt: Half the shows in prime time start with two strippers getting strangled after a lap dance, and that’s fine with me but if it’s also fine with Jesus then I don’t see the need to tiptoe around his name

Lost: Season Three, Episode Five – “The Cost of Living”

lost the cost of living The Revelations:

Desmond understands that the Pearl station can be used to communicate with the Others
It was Ben’s spinal x-ray in the previous episode
The whole purpose of capturing Jack was so that he would operate on Ben
Mr. Eko is one bad mother, until he dies.

The Plot: Mr. Eko awakens from his coma to find his dead priest of a brother telling him to confess. He rushes through the jungle to find him, or rather the body in the plane, only to find it empty. He is looked upon by the big black smoke but it runs away when Eko flashes his knife. At least for a moment. Eko eventually catches up to his spirit brother only to say that he will not confess. He feels everything he has done has been for a purpose and he does not feel guilty.

The big black smoke appears again, and beats the living crap out of Eko, eventually killing him. While doing so the smoke appears kind of like a big animal which leads to questions about the smoke possibly having formed into Eko’s brother and perhaps other mysterious animals on the island.

Meanwhile, The Others are playing nice to Jack, but Jack isn’t quite ready to accept them as pals. It starts with a stroll with Ben to Colleen’s funeral and ends with Ben admitting that Jack’s capture was all a ruse to get him on their side so that he would be willing to operate on his spinal tumor.

Later Juliet talks with Jack asking him to please do the operation all the while a video tape plays with her holding up signs reading her displeasure with Ben and that Jack should operate, but only to kill him.

The Flashback: Keeping with the Eko-centricity of the episode, the flashback gave further details of Eko’s past. Mainly Eko involves himself in terrible deeds to help his brother and feeling no remorse for it.

The Rating: ***1/2
The flashbacks, though important to understanding Mr. Eko, were kind of boring. Watching him kill the gangsters in the church was cool, but overall the back story was way too long and only served to say that Eko isn’t sorry for the life he has lived.

The long trek to Pearl was also dull. However, the second half of the show really kicked into high gear. Who the crap is the guy with the patch? Are all the mysterious things we’ve seen thus far really the big black smoke in disguise? Will Jack make friendly with Ben and save him? Or will he hook up with Juliet and kill? Or is the whole murder plot just another Other misdirect? Very cool stuff and super exciting.

House: Season Three, Episode Five – “Fools for Love”

house fools for love

Originally written on November 1, 2006.

The Lead In: A young, mixed race, married couple are finishing up dinner in a diner when the diner is robbed. Playing the hero, the young man attacks the robbers and wins only to find his wife lying on the floor unable to breathe.

The Plot: Thinking the wife, Tracy (Jurnee Smolett) could be having an infection that only shows up when she is active; Foreman puts her on the treadmill. Even though she complains of abdominal pains, and the husband, Bobby (Scott Rinker) screams, Foreman makes her continue running. Soon the husband has similar pains and, as it turns out, has the same illness.

Tracy later has a hallucination that Bobby’s pill-popping racist father is in the hospital telling her to leave Bobby alone, and for Bobby to not touch the girl as he begins to break his arm. From the hallucination, she goes into a coma.

The team eventually decides that they need to do a biopsy of Tracy’s brain stem, but they need Bobby’s permission to do so. There is much discussion of the ethics behind this, because Bobby may grant permission to do so simply because it could help cure him. It is decided that Wilson may do the asking as he has a way with people. Bobby refuses the biopsy, afraid of the risks, and decides that they should do it on him. The problem is that he does not yet have those symptoms and would have to go off meds to do so.

A biopsy isn’t needed as Bobby’s intestines begin to rot and a new diagnosis is given. It turns out that the two lovers are related and Bobby’s dad isn’t so racist after all. In fact, he is Tracy’s father as well and the illness is related to the incest.

Oooh.

The subplot: On one of his clinic stints, House ticks off a patient (David Morse) who calls House on his perpetual rudeness. In retribution, House gives the patient a rectal thermometer and leaves work before it is extracted.

The patient raises crap with Cuddy who tries to make House apologize. House refuses and ticks the patient off even more. Turns out the patient is actually Detective Tritter who nails House for speeding at the end of the episode. Well, speeding and drug possession, for carrying his pills without a prescription. The episode ends with House being arrested.

The Subplot Part II: House notices Wilson chatting up a pretty nurse and automatically suspects they are dating. This irritates House because a) House is alarmed that Wilson will screw up another relationship or b) House fears Wilson will wind up in a happy relationship and not need him anymore.

Much betting goes on between House and Foreman as to the actual nature between Wilson and the nurse until it is disclosed that it is Foreman who is dating the woman.

The rating: ***
This episode seemed a little off to me. The actual patients seemed to take a bigger back seat to the internal bickering and subplots. The incest conclusion seemed more tabloid than usually allowed on the show, and in the end, I didn’t particularly care about the patients at all.

The whole Detective Tritter arrests House plot should prove very interesting though.

The excuse: I watched the episode after having driven some 600 miles to my parent’s house. Watching with them is an interesting experience as they tend to talk loudly through the proceedings. That and the exhaustion made my viewing experience a little lax and most assuredly has an effect on this review.

Random Shuffle (10/25/06) – Robert Earl Keen, Johnny Cash, The Band, Morrissey, & Bruce Springsteen

“Then Came Lo Mein” – Robert Earl Keen
From Picnic

I first discovered Robert Earl Keen through some friends of mine. I think I attended a concert before I’d ever listened to an album. It was a great concert and as I soon discovered, very typical Robert Earl Keen. That is to say full of great subversive country music, raucous and bawdy jokes, and the biggest throwdown of the year.

This is a great song and a great showcase of his songwriting skills. It is a love song with bad jokes and a heart full of something meaningful. It throws together lines like “I was steamed I was fried/But you stood by my life/When I had my nervous breakdown” to make a pun about the Chinese restraint they are in and make an acute observation about the power of relationships.

The music is a soft, rolling thing made into a beautiful duet with Margo Timmins.

Keen is never going to find his way to the top of the charts nor be decried as the next Dylan. His music is like a pot of warm stew in February. It is hearty, filling, and sometimes all you need, but it won’t ever flash or glitter and get your attention like Crème Brûlée. But sometimes all you need is a solid songwriter to get you through the long winters.

“Wayfaring Stranger” – Johnny Cash
From American III

I think there are few songs that I love deep down in my soul like “Wayfaring Stranger.” I’m generally not one for religious lyrics in pop tunes, but this one hits me in a way few things can. I think it is the notion of being a traveler, not bound for one land for long that appeals to me most. I’ve spent most of my life moving about so I know the feeling of being a stranger, yet also understand the joy of coming home.

I don’t spend much time writing about my own spiritual beliefs, but the idea of leaving the harsh realities of this world and crossing over Jordan to that heavenly home sounds somehow comforting.

And when you get Johnny Cash to sing it, well, I think I’m already over that river and headed towards home. I love that Cash makes the recording sparse, just a fiddle, some light strumming guitar, and that Voice. Johnny Cash had the voice of God.

If I get to choose the songs for my funeral, this one is going in.

“Ophelia” – The Band
From Last Waltz

Truth is I’m not much of a fan of The Band. So much praise has been lauded on Music From the Big Pink, but I mainly find it a bore. I love “The Weight” and I think that love ruins the album for me. While it has this great acoustical instrumentation, great lyrics and some perfect harmonies, the rest of the album sounds way too slow and the vocals are just one long whine. I’ve tried many times to relisten to it and find can see what all the praise is about, but it always comes up short.

I’d pretty much given up on the band, in fact, until I watched The Last Waltz on television a while back. This is the Band I’d dreamed about. Great music, great performances, and a group worthy to be the most famous incarnation of Dylan’s backup band.

It wasn’t just the assortment of all-stars, including Dylan, joining them for this last dance. The Band cooked like fried rice. These guys were obviously having fun and holding their own with some of the great artists in music.

“Ophelia” is just the Band, no celebrity filler and it still kills. This is the type of music that floats in my head most of the time. A big band with blazing guitars, thumping bass, keys, and horns all meshed together in a brilliant ménage a groovitude.

“Certain People I Know” – Morrissey
From Your Arsenal

Morrissey, with or without the Smiths, is a musician I’ve pretended to love for many years. It’s not that I don’t enjoy his music, because I certainly do, but rather that I’m just not terribly familiar with it. Not enough for the amount of name-checking I’ve done with him anyway.

The Smiths are one of those bands like the Sex Pistols or the Clash that give extra cool points to those who profess their love for them. I admit I have used them all to gain an edge on new friends or to feel a little more special to an extra special girl.

Morrissey is the only one I actually really dug a record from (I’ve never managed to really get the Sex Pistols and only have recently found the joys of the Clash). Your Arsenal is the record of choice as it came about during my finer years and in the midst of the whole alternative is a huge ordeal in the early 90s.

A recent run to the local library has yielded a bustle full of new Morrissey records and I am in the midst of a rebirth in his music. This one is an oldie and one I’ve enjoyed for many years. Not exactly typical as it has a more rockabilly feel than most of his work, but still a good one.

Maybe now I can whisper to my wife how awesome I think the man is, and really mean it.

“Buffalo Gals” – Bruce Springsteen
From We Shall Overcome

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not much for Bruce Springsteen. I can see he is a good writer and performer, but he’s always seemed just a tad too earnest for my tastes. Whenever I listen to Springsteen or hear the devotion from his legion of fans, I get a little nervous. It’s a bit like having die-hard Jesus freaks over for dinner. I get what they are saying, but they’re just a little too into it to make me feel comfortable.

At least I did feel this until I heard his Pete Seeger tribute. Man that album rules. “Buffalo Gals” is probably my favorite tune in the bunch. There is such joy in this music. It’s a group of outstanding players playing their hearts out and having fun at it. It’s the fun part that wins me over. This is Springsteen finally tossing out the fire and brimstone and enjoying himself.

This is a hoe down of a song, a real barn burner. It makes me wish I could play an instrument or have some rhythm to dance to it. It makes me glad to be alive. It makes me happy. And if that ain’t the point of it all, then we might as well all give up now and go home.

Lost: Season Three, Episode Four – “Every Man For Himself”

New Revelations:

Desmond sees the future
Sawyer did time in prison
Jack, Kate, and Sawyer are on a second, smaller island

Plot:

Desmond is the new Locke.

At the beginning of the episode, we see him approach Claire and tell her that she needs to move while he fixes her roof. Claire and Charlie look at the roof but see no problems with it. Desmond then borrows a golf club from a character we haven’t seen before and creates a big giant pole with it. The club is at the top and has an electrical wire attached to it, stretching to the sand below.

Towards the end of the episode, Hurley and Desmond are talking, and Desmond asks Hurley to step back just as the storm hits. Claire, Charlie, and the baby are soaked under the roof and a bolt of lightning strikes the golf club, causing damage to itself but no one else.

I say again, Desmond is the new Locke.

The second island is the new hatch. Each season there is a single mystery that captures our attention for the duration. Last season it was the hatch and those numbers, this season it will be the second island.

In captivity we see the Others dragging a very injured Colleen past Sawyer and Kate. Sawyer uses this distraction to plan a means of escape. He uses his oddball food distributor to create a puddle of water outside the cage, hoping someone will step in it allowing him to use the electrocution device to knock out an Other and him to escape.

Ben, having watched this plan on the video, comes to Sawyer, and allows him to try the plan, but the electrocution has been turned off. Ben then beats Sawyer and drags him away. Inside several Others strap Sawyer down and stab a needle into his heart.

When Sawyer awakens Ben shakes a rabbit to the point of death. He tells Sawyer that the rabbit had the same heart injections, which stops the heart beating when it gets too excited. Sawyer now has a heart monitor and is told that if his rate goes above 140 he will die. It is also threatened that if Sawyer tells Kate about any of it, she will be given the same treatment.

Meanwhile, Juliet asks Jack (who is forced now to watch cartoons) to help Colleen, as she is dying. Jack tries to heal her, but she is too far gone, and without a defibrillator, he can do nothing but watch her die.

This displeases Colleen’s husband, Pickett, who rushes outside and beats Sawyer to a pulp. He repeatedly asks Kate if she loves Sawyer and only stops the beating when she admits she does.

Inside Jack is handcuffed to the table holding the dead Colleen until Juliet frees him. While there, Jack asks about the X-rays he saw on his way in. It appears this person’s spine has a large cancer on it, and Jack asks who it is he is supposed to save. (In next week’s preview, it appears it will be Ben.)

Outside, Kate learns that she can escape her cage by climbing through the bars at the top. She does so against Sawyer’s wishes and then attempts to free Sawyer. He begs her not to and tells her to run. They argue over Kate’s “love” while Sawyer continues to refuse to tell her what happened to him. In the end, Kate climbs back into the cage.

Later, Ben takes Sawyer to the top of a mountain where he explains to Sawyer that the heart problem was a lie conceived to make Sawyer obedient. He then takes Sawyer to the top of the mountain and shows him another island. That island is the one where all the survivors are, while he is being held on this smaller “Alcatraz.”

The flashback sequence consisted of Sawyer being in prison for one of his cons. While there a woman shows up claiming she has had Sawyer’s child. Sawyer feigns disinterest but later proves he has a heart.

Sawyer also learns another convict has ten million dollars stashed away. Sawyer earns this man’s trust enough to learn where the money is and then uses this information to buy his way out of prison. By telling the feds where it is, they release him early and apparently give him part of it in return. This money he has deposited into a band for his daughter.

Rating: ****

The Sawyer heart injection was one of the most intense moments of the series. This season they’ve been making the Others out to be decent, if terribly mysterious folks, and this moment put them right back to total evil territory.

I was quite relieved when it turned out to be fake as I was already tired of the monitor. It was a good gag to have the warning beep go off when Kate was changing clothes, but then to have the monitor register the same amount when Sawyer was getting beaten was ludicrous. I began to fear they would be using this device continuously throughout the series, and I knew that would be quite irritating.

Desmond becoming some sort of mystic psychic is quite interesting. I hope it doesn’t diminish Locke’s role as the same, but his character could prove to be quite fascinating.

Jack starting to help the Others as the doctor could go either way for me. It kind of ticked me off at first, because I felt that Jack would be so pissed off at them by now that he’d use it as a bargaining chip. But the doctor in him seems to be winning, and perhaps he is beginning to feel no other choice but to cooperate. We’ll see how it goes in the upcoming weeks.

I was reminded during the preview that they have actually only been on the island for two months. Being the third year for viewers it is easy to forget the actual timeline is much shorter, making the situation slightly less desperate.

Overall I am still growing tired of the constant tension and begin to wish there was a conclusion coming. However, the show still has me hooked and the tension sure is exciting.