TV PAN - I watch. You read.

NEW Blog

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:55:04 -0400

This blog is clearly inactive, for some time now. In fact, it’s been inactive for longer than it’s been active. Just follow the new blog and let’s see how long I’ll keep at that:

http://worldwidepinar.blogspot.com

Survivor, why can't you do things right? [spoiler]

Thu, 13 May 2010 21:47:03 -0400

Week after week, I wait for the remaining survivors to band together and take out Russell. He’s really not that good. Especially this season.

Last season he found, what was it, like three hidden immunity idols without a clue. Okay, that was impressive, but this season? There were so many chances to get him out and the biggest plays were made by JT and by Parvati.

JT, the idiot, gave his immunity idol to Russell while they were still on opposite teams. He made a big, STUPID move. Parvati made a huge play (that I never would have thought of or had the courage to do) when she used two idols at once, and neither of them for herself in an effort to keep the numbers in her alliance. That was the best tribal council blindside this entire season and there were some great blindsides.

Russell is also the biggest sore loser and there’s no logic to his sore-loser-rants. In tonight’s episode he kept saying what a bad move Jerri made by not picking him for the reward and it didn’t make sense for her to choose Parvati first. Uhhhh Parvati gave Jerri one of those immunity idols that saved her and sent JT packing. Oh, getting back to that tribal council where JT went home: as JT was exiting, he shook Russell’s hand and gave him credit for blindsiding him. No, Parvati blindsided you. Russell didn’t even know that Parvati had the other idol or that she was going to use one on Sandra and the other on Jerri. P-A-R-V-A-T-I.

Getting back to tonight’s episode…Parvati and Sandra had a perfect opportunity to vote Russell out. Blindside his ass, ya know? But no. They blindsided Rupert. RUPERT! Sheesh…why don’t these people know how to play?

Glee post-break

Tue, 11 May 2010 23:02:59 -0400

Is it just me or has Glee been lacking since it came back from its long hiatus?

A lot of obvious things are being thrown into our faces. We get it, Brittany is dumb and Sue is mean.

Also, I love Kristin Chenowith but her second appearance on the show was underwhelming. No fault of hers. It was just a lackluster episode. Glee shouldn’t try to be serious or take itself seriously. It’s a go-to show for over-the-top campiness and fun.

I don’t know what can bring the excitement back. They should have stretched out the will-they-won’t-they romances. Everyone’s had a shot at romance with everyone already. Although, they did recently hold auditions for new cast members, so maybe Ryan Murphy has something in mind to draw the audience back in. (Not until season 2 though.)

V [update]

Tue, 11 May 2010 22:44:12 -0400

I’m all up to date on V except I’m not watching the episode that is airing right now.

LOST, you son of a bitch [spoiler]

Wed, 05 May 2010 23:37:35 -0400

Whatever has happened up to this point since I last wrote anything doesn’t matter. What matters is Sun and Jin reuniting one week and dying in each other’s arms the next. What the WHAT! I don’t think I’ve ever cried during a LOST episode before that scene from last night’s episode (except maybe during last season’s finale when Sawyer couldn’t save Juliette).

WOW! I mean, I know Sayid died and Lapedis is probably dead, but their deaths were overshadowed by Sun and Jin. Wasn’t it reminiscent of Titanic? Ugh, how tragic… I was totally waiting for them to reappear when Jack waded back into the ocean to have himself a cry. Oh and the whole lot of them crying. I had just newly wiped my ugly cry away, but when Hugo started wailing I was close to bawling again. There was one thought that took me out of the moment and kept me from shedding the little moisture I had left: they’re all going for an Emmy this season.

V and me

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:30:10 -0400

V is back, but it’s been gone so long that I’m finding it hard to get back into it. It was just getting interesting when it last left off. Unfortunately, I don’t even remember where it left off or what’s happened thus far. What’s going on? I feel like the biggest plot twists on the show revolve around a big reveal that someone is a Visitor or a big reveal that someone isn’t a Visitor. It’s kind of like The Vampire Diaries in that way. There’s always someone who is a vampire who you totally thought was human—no way! At least on True Blood they throw in some weird shape shifters or whatever. I’m waiting for one of these shows to reveal an adult that is actually a baby. An adorable little human baby.

Project Runway [spoiler][let's play catch-up]

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:16:11 -0400

I’ve been watching Project Runway but I just haven’t written about it. I’ve been too busy talking to my TV, Tim Gunn (on TV), and the judges (on TV) to jot anything down. And by “jot” I mean “type”. And by “type” I mean “smashing some keys on my laptop”. So, let’s play catch-up!

Let’s steamroll through the designers that are out:

episode 8

BEN CHMURA

episode 9

AMY SARABI

Yeah, Sarabi’s gone :(

episode 10

ANTHONY WILLIAMS

Uhhh, hold on… [spoiler alert] Wait til the next episode. Anthony’s back in the next episode.

So now, we’re at episode 11 and things get wacky. Maya Luz quits!

MAYA LUZ

Yep, that Maya. Apparently she felt like she’s still too young (21 years old, same age when Christian Siriano won the fourth season of Project Runway) and isn’t actually ready for this competition.

After Maya quits, Anthony is brought back. Then, he winds up actually winning the challenge. In the end…

JONATHAN PETERS

…Jonathan is kicked out.

episode 12

It’s the final 5 and the show usually finales with a final 3, so two designers should be kicked out this episode. Should be. Only one is:

ANTHONY WILLIAMS

For real this time. (I think?)

The last two on the stage were Mila and Jay. Only one of them will actually show at Bryant Park but all four of them (including Emilio and Seth Aaron) have to create their line.

Personally, I don’t love Emilio’s stuff (though I did like his dress in this last challenge). I think Jay has been lacking, which is surprising since he was in my top three from the beginning of the show (including Amy Sarabi and Maya Luz). At this point, I think Seth Aaron should win, but I can definitely see the judges choosing Emilio. He’s such a jerk to Tim Gunn though…ugh!

time machine

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:43:43 -0400

I can’t believe my last post is from three days ago. I feel like I just posted the damn thing, whatever it was. This must be some April Fool’s joke. God is April Fooling me, that’s how important I am.

+TVPAN

LOST - Recon

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:39:53 -0400

I was going to combine this post with the one for the following episode because I’m so behind. Instead, I decided against it since the next one is Richard Alpert’s first and only episode. To top it all off, this episode is a Sawyer one and I loves me my Sawyer. However, the absolute BEST part of the episode was the brawl between Claire and Kate. Oh, and then Locke got involved? Belated birthday gift for me? Thanks, LOST!

I don’t think anything significant was revealed in this episode in terms of plot or island answers/explanations—well, except that Sawyer is making deals with Whidmore and with Flocke/Mocke/Loophole Locke on the island; and in his alternate universe, he’s a cop partnered with Miles. Other than that, just watch this scene:

Big Love Season 4—Telenovela? Definitely. Awful? Maybe not.

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:17:00 -0400

So I finally watched the full fourth season of HBO’s Big Love. Just in time, I guess, because the day right after I concluded the season, there was big talk about Chloë Sevigny trashing this season of the show and its writers. Let’s not get out of hand here, people. Okay, she called this season “awful” but her explanation makes sense. There’s an audio clip of the actual response which can be found at the bottom of this article.

Sevigny describes this season as “very telenovela” and, uhhh… it’s true! Other points she made are also equally valid. The show only had 9 episodes this season and it packed a lot in them—truth. A lot of the storyline was far fetched, especially with the whole political campaign—truth.

I mean, she even says in that short audio clip that she loves the show. She covered her tracks the first time, she shouldn’t have to apologize any more than she has. I guess celebrity gossip is just slow lately. Although, did you see Lindsay Lohan’s powder shoes? What’s going on there, sister-friend? No more of that, I need a Mean Girls reunion. I watched that movie again yesterday…how is it so good?

Skins - JJ [pic overload]

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:58:12 -0400

What a cute episode! JJ is one of my favorite characters from this generation and this episode made me like him even more. The series managed to to fit a boy-meets-girl love story within the ~1-hour time frame. And since this post is so late, there are a million pictures ahead. ONE MILLION!

JJ and Thomas work at this place called Hancock’s which looks like a Home Depot. Hancock’s seems more like a Walmart, but I guess it also looks like a Walmart. (I’ve only ever been to Walmart once.) Also working at Hancock’s is Lara, a girl that JJ fancies (US: likes).

Everyday is the same routine for JJ. He goes to work, gets picked up by his mum (US: mom), has a meal at home while his mother quizzes him, and then he goes to bed, logging his thoughts (very Star Trek). Do you see that ukulele he’s holding? That will come into play much later on.

So, everyday JJ tells himself that he’s going to ask Lara out if she just smiles at him. One day while JJ and Thomas are goofing around, playing tag with a price-checker, Lara smiles at JJ who has been tackled by Thomas.

JJ thinks this is his moment to ask her out, but then he sees her being all too familiar with another guy.

When his mum picks him up, he doesn’t sing the dirty rap songs they usually sing together and he doesn’t answer her quiz questions at dinner. He sulks back to his room.

The next day at work, Lara appears to have a cold, so JJ helps her out but slipping one of his Vitamin C fizzy tablet things into her water. She catches him slipping something into her drink. Being JJ, he gets all flustered and tries to explain. Lara chugs down the drink and thanks him. Ah-ha! Another opportunity to ask her out.

And she says yes.

When JJ returns home, he is visited by Freddie with a large, heavy, burning sack. Oh, it’s Cook having a smoke inside the bag. So it seems the lad is no longer welcomed at the McLair household. Now he must hideout at JJ’s place. While he’s there, he gives JJ some lady advice—while he’s showering, no less.

JJ takes Cook’s advice. He tries to play it cool and touch her as soon as he arrives at her doorstep. He’s arrived two hours early, already nixing his cool factor.

After JJ attempts to touch her, she leads him inside to meet someone—Albert, her baby. While she gets ready, she leaves JJ to entertain little Albert. He does so by performing magic tricks.

Whilst entertaining, JJ smells an odor and decides to take it upon himself to change the baby’s diaper. (Who would ever do that? Wouldn’t you inform the parent first? Maybe I’m just a distrusting New Yorker.) Albert winds up peeing all over JJ’s face (maybe Albert is also from New York). Right at that moment, the baby-daddy arrives to babysit and he is displeased with another guy touching his child, or escorting Lara for that matter.

Lara and JJ go on their date… to a bar.. and JJ doesn’t even drink. While there, JJ notices Emily walking in with a female companion. They say their hellos, make their introductions—everyone is introduced merely as a “friend”—and then Emily and her “friend” leave.

JJ tries the ol’ ‘touch her’ maneuver again, but she promptly takes his hand off her knee and places it on the counter.

When that clearly doesn’t work, he moves along to step three: Pupils. He asks if her pupils are usually so dilated to which she replies “Only when I’m pissed off.” Oh and look, their drinks have arrived. A flustered JJ grabs at a cup and swigs it down… err, almost down. He, of course, took Lara’s vodka and coke and immediately did a spit-take. A really good spit-take actually. Somebody give the fella his Oscar.

JJ runs to the restroom where he, I guess, washes out his mouth and, I know, gives Cook a ring for more wisdom. Cook’s at JJ’s in the nude and there’s that darn ukulele again. We’ll see more of it later—the ukulele, that is. Well, Cook tells JJ to abort the mission/date. JJ seeks to escape through the tiny window in the bathroom until Lara finds him. Apparently he was in the ladies restroom the whole time.

I like this next picture of JJ. He looks like a geeky superhero.

Lara leaves but JJ finds her outside on a bench (I’m assuming that’s a bus stop). He figures he’s blown it with her. She lets him know that she likes him. The real him. The goofy him. The him that flirts with old ladies and doesn’t try so hard. It seems all is forgiven because they make out and wind up having sexy times…

…for days. When JJ returns to his room, he finds cups and jars of urine, accompanied by a starving Cook.

JJ visits his psychiatrist with his mother, but is fed up with the pills and the psycho treatment. As he exists the building, he runs into Liam who appears to be doing some construction work. JJ fears being labeled a “psycho” and Lara finding out.

Once JJ’s mother catches up with him outside the psychiatrists office, she says she wants to meet Lara. But first, JJ decides she should meet his friends. Where better to start than Naomi and Emily’s?

While getting to know each other, Lara and JJ let it slip that they saw Emily at the pub the other day. Emily quickly asks JJ for his help with some political course work in the other room, simply to avoid an awkward conversation. In the other room, JJ and Emily end up having a conversation about relationships and trust.

After that, it’s time for Lara to meet the family. JJ’s mother is surprised by little Albert, but tries (and fails) to conceal her shock. When she announces JJ’s arrival with his girlfriend and a baby, JJ’s dad finally reveals himself from behind that newspaper. Look who it is! Some… guy… I’m guessing he’s at least mildly famous in the UK. Unfortunately, I don’t recognize him.. but if he shows up in something else I can always be like “Oh look! It’s JJ’s dad!”

After they all sit down for some tea and scones, JJ’s mother blurts out the word “slut” in casual conversation. I believe she meant to say “scones” at the time. So that was Lara’s cue to seek the lavatory to change Albert. She goes but the door is locked. JJ realizes that Cook is probably in there and rushes over which causes his mother to rush over. JJ freaks out and yells that they can’t go into the bathroom. Lara leaves, finding everything way too weird. In the end, JJ tells Cook to just come out and out he comes. Apparently, Cook shaves his chest…

Yet again, JJ fears he’s mucked things up between him and Lara. Then, at Hancock’s, he has a run in with Liam. This time he let’s him have it, attacking Liam. Lara sees the altercation and announces on the loudspeaker that she thinks they shouldn’t see each other anymore. (Why does she have the baby with her at work? Some questions will never be answered…)

At home, JJ is upset and hugging that beloved ukulele. His dad comes in and actually has a sort of heart-to-heart with him. It seems to be a big step for the dad who is uninvolved in any family matters. Yet, he’s always got that worried face painted on. It might just be his face…yeah. It must just be his normal face because even when he compliments his wife (another big move for the guy), his face has that almost brain-freeze look.

JJ decides to right his wrongs and starts by approaching Liam and apologizing. He even offers his own face for Liam to attack.

Next, JJ seeks his mother’s help. After painting a banner of sorts, his final mission is to pay Lara a visit. He grabs her attention from outside with a romantic shoe to her window. (No pebbles around, I guess?)

Here’s the part! The part with the ukulele! JJ and the amazing Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain perform Spandau Ballet’s “True”.

After the performance, Lara and JJ are reunited (and it feels so good).

The whole episode remained somewhat true to Star Trek, with the captain’s log bit and then at the end, it all came together with the “couple on the bed warping into outer space” effects. I thought the episode was really reminiscent of eighties teen romantic comedies.

ANTM - Be My Friend, Tyra! + Dreckitude!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:56:41 -0400

Tyra, the goddess from Egypt, is back trying to find America’s next top (I use the term loosely) model again. On premiere night, we have 1.5 hours of Tyra and her crew picking out the top 13 girls set to duke it out on the show for the title of… Tyra’s model. Let’s be honest, it’s all about Tyra.

This first episode was really a teaser. There wasn’t a REAL episode with a finalist girl getting cut. Actually, (lets back-track a little) the judges (Tyra) picked a top 12. Then, they added this girl Ren (out of nowhere) to make it a top 13. I thought she was a spy. It seems like she isn’t, but you never know with Tyra. Maybe halfway through the season she’ll reveal that Ren is actually a robot or something. Anyway, Ren is the poor man’s Elyse. Remember Elyse Sewell from the first season? Oh I miss her.

The last half hour of the episode ended so abruptly! One good thing? Make overs! Oh, eh-hem, I mean “Ty-Overs”. Basically, anyone with dark hair got blonde hair and anyone with blonde hair became a brunette. As for Naduah, the bald one that grew up in a religious cult, had her eyebrows bleached.

The second week, we have another one and one-half hours of Tyra & co. Things start with the new opening—or as I like to call it: TYRA! TYRA! TYRA! ONE MILLION TYRAS!

…but that title is probably too long. Also, two of the words aren’t “Tyra” which is really unacceptable.

Once the show really got started, we got the last half-hour of an episode whose first half-hour was the last half-hour last week—did you understand that? Read it a few times. If you still don’t get it, I guess I’ll explain: Last week was 1.5 hours. The first hour was essentially one episode and the last half-hour was the beginning of a second episode. It ended pretty abruptly. This week, the first half-hour followed up right where we left off and there was an elimination within that 30-minute time span. The following 60 minutes was like another episode, fit with its own challenges and elimination. Phew, you should understand now. If you don’t… eh, just keep reading.

At the runway challenge, the girls had to time their walk. Like, seriously time it. If they didn’t, well, one of them totally didn’t and… just look:

“Oh no.. what just happened.. oh no, I just fell down the stairs.. how can I.. [sob sob sob, get up, walk down the runway, get knocked off the platform] oh no… how did this… again?!… oh God why… [sob sob sob, etc.]”—what I’d say/do in that situation.

So, the two girls that were eliminated were Gabrielle and Naduah. They were two of my favorites after the first episode. Over the course of this second episode, Naduah got weird and arrogant. Her best picture was the first polaroid photo of her, which doesn’t even count.

sick and tired

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:23:28 -0400

I’ve been behind on posts (that’s sort of the theme of this blog) but I haven’t been feeling well. Today a doctor prescribed me antibiotics. Hopefully I won’t be sick anymore.

This weather is something, huh? Cold & hot; wet & dry. Make up your mind, right? (Sometimes I think I’m Molly Shannon’s lady-stand-up-comedy character from SNL. “Don’t even get me started.”)

Anyway, posts to come.

+TVPAN

Models of the Runway - Hard to Wear [spoiler]

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:47:15 -0400

After the hardware outfit challenge on Project Runway, the models congratulated Jay and said goodbye to Jesse. Nothing much else happened. Heidi gave the girls the day to lounge around at a pool. The girls were glad to have a day away from the competition. They were looking to just relax, have fun, and definitely no work talk…. except Alexis talked about nothing but elimination.

Alexis kept irking everyone by talking about elimination when the other girls clearly stated that they didn’t want to talk about the competition that day. Alexis kept bringing up the prospect of someone going home, but she never seemed to think it would be her, even though her designer was the one who got the boot. She was confident that another designer would snatch her right up because she was such a strong walker.

So here’s how things went down at elimination: each of the designers pretty much remained true to their most recent model. However, Emilio switched it up and chose Monique instead of Holly (the life-sized Barbie doll who worked his horrible wire-and-washers outfit). So, it came down to Amy Sarabi to choose between Holly and the confident Alexis.

Who was eliminated:

ALEXIS BROKER

Sarabi tricked us all by saying “Alexis…[pause]…I’m really sorry, um, Holly, I’d love to work with you again.” I guess Alexis was wrong about someone definitely choosing her. And she was actually a little likable toward the end of the episode. She had a real talk with Alison, who seemed to be her only friend in the house (though we never saw them together before), and was a little vulnerable. She explained how she had a strategy coming into the house—basically to be a cold hard bitch. Also, after Holly was picked, all of the girls cheered quite audibly backstage to the point where Heidi, the designers, and lonely little Alexis could hear their glee. It was really unfortunate that Alexis chose the game plan that she did. She may have gotten along with everyone otherwise. All of the girls saw a sweeter side to her as she was packing to leave and someone even said “I feel like she was just herself, right then” right after she left.

Survivor - Tonight, We Make Out Move + Knights of the Round Table

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:01:50 -0400

This seems to be a recurring thing with me now—putting two posts up as one. What’s going on? Is the weather getting better? Am I going out? No, that can’t be it. Yes, that’s probably exactly what it is. Sorry!

Tonight, We Make Our Move

Pretty big blindside in this episode. Not happy with the outcome, you guys. Not happy at all. I have to admit it was a great move for the parties involved, but I wish it was a strategy used to take out someone like… I don’t know.. Daniele. I have no recollection of who she is and nor do I want any! I know she’s on the opposite team and wasn’t even at tribal council but Jeff Probst should have tried to pull something. He’s got a lot of say in the game, with good reason. He really is the best reality game show host and the only one that could do Survivor. He deserves every Emmy.

Enough about Probst, let’s get the episode. Each tribe got coffee beans or some such thing and in it there was a rolled up scroll-like little note. The message on the note revealed to each team that there is a hidden immunity idol at their camp somewhere. The Villains collectively decided not to look for it. If someone went looking for it, they would vote him/her out. Everyone followed the tribe rule… except Russell. He went looking for it like a little rat, thinking he’s so sneaky, but Sandra easily caught him digging feverishly. What makes it even better is that he didn’t see her. Oh, and also that she whispered ‘stupid ass’ when she saw him from afar. Oh wait, also he didn’t find it.

At the Heroes camp, everyone went scouring for the idol. They were all just openly searching for it. Tom was the one to find it. He tried to sneak it into his sock, but Amanda saw him stuff it. And so, everyone knew he had the idol, putting a huge target on his back.

Reward challenge winner:

There was actually a separation between the reward and immunity challenges. There didn’t need to be though. I mean, the Villains won both.

Immunity challenge winner:

And so Russell is safe another episode, but someone on the Heroes team isn’t.

The Tribe has spoken:

CERIE FIELDS

So here’s what happened. Tom got the idol. Everyone knew that Tom had the idol. Cirie, Candice, Rupert, Amanda, James, and JT had an alliance and decides to split their votes between Tom and Colby. This way, if Tom used the idol, Colby would go home. However, JT was playing both sides and, unfortunately, sided with Tom and Colby who were gunning for Cirie. So, three votes went to Tom, two votes to Colby, and three to Cirie. Since Tom used his immunity idol, Cirie had to go. Sucks! I know that it was a good move and smart because Cirie is well-liked. She’s a good player who has her head straight and knows who to vote out and how to get that person voted out without making enemies. Oh Cirie… she was so funny, too.

Knights of the Round Table

When the Heroes return to camp, JT is quick to say that he voted Cerie out for the team, not for himself. Then he has a chat with Amanda saying he is one hundred percent loyal to her and the rest of them. He seems baffled by the idea that she would think otherwise. Uhhh… c’mon, JT… what kind of a maneuver is that? Although, I must admit, I was worried Amanda might fall for it. I don’t give Amanda credit for being a smart player. She did make it all the way to the end every time she’s played this game—but by that same point, she came in second every time, too.

Over at the Villain camp, Russell finally finds the hidden immunity idol. He tells Parvati. They have a conversation about getting Coach on their side. Russell feeds the Coach a bunch of lies about how he trusts him and that’s why he’s telling him that he found the idol. Coach falls for it completely.

Reward challenge winner:

This challenge was a basketball-ish game. And right away, James hurt himself. Something popped or stretched or tore in his knee. He wasn’t taken out of the game entirely, but he had to sit this reward challenge out. Oh and the reward was chocolate in every form—delicious. The Villain girls were going crazy when they heard the reward. Well, they got their precious chocolate.

Immunity challenge winner:

The Heroes were SO close. It’s really ridiculous how good the Villains (Boston Rob) are at puzzles. This challenge had one team member calling out directions to the rest of the blindfolded tribemates. For the Villains it was Jerri and for the Heroes it was obviously James because of his injury. So, Jerri and James called out to their fellow castaways to go through a field with plenty of barrels to walk into (of course they need some obstacles), pick up a Tetris-like piece and return it to the target mat. There were ten pieces in all and each one generally required two people to carry one.

This challenge became hilarious toward the end. James’s voice was practically gone and he was screaming “Walk yo’ ass! Walk yo’ ass!” No matter how fast they walked they ass, the Villains managed to put the pieces together on the mat to create a large puzzle cube faster than they Hero asses.

The Tribe has spoken:

TOM WESTMAN

I really thought James was going to go because JT didn’t seem honest at all. However, he probably appeared that way because he didn’t know who he was going to vote out until he wrote a “T” instead of a “J” on that parchment.

LOST - Dr. Linus [spoiler]

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:59:50 -0400

Where is this all headed? I think this final season is developing each of the characters more but I’m not sure… I don’t know what the direction is, not that I ever knew. I guess knowing that this is the final season has raised my expectations, but for what? I don’t know. I feel like I know this show less and less each week. I really need to watch it from the first season again because there’s so little that I remember—this is not one of those shows where it’s okay not to remember little things; there is no “little” thing.

I know I wrote “spoiler” in the title of this post, but I don’t know how many spoilers I have. Umm.. Richard Alpert is from Black Rock. That’s something. Hmm, what else.. Oh, Whidmore is in a submarine approaching the island. He’s only revealed at the end. The effects are so disappointing, but it’s okay I guess—humorous.

The Amazing Race - Leg 4 + Leg 5 [spoiler]

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:07:00 -0400

First off, here’s that other Travelocity commercial that I love:

“Oh hello and hello to you, too”—genius. This commercial—absolute genius.

Okay, so in Leg 4, the teams get into all sorts of wacky adventures. Long-story short: Jordan & Jeff come in last but it’s a non-elimination leg, so they start the next leg with an additional challenge that none of the other teams must complete.

Once Leg 5 started, Jordan & Jeff seemed to have trouble leaving the pit stop because the roads were confusing. At this point, I thought “Forget it. Jeff and Jordan are goners. They’re never even going to make it to Phil on that mat.” However, there was a Blind U-Turn at the end of the Detour leg of the race. All that “Detour” and “Blind U-Turn” means, for anyone that is not familiar with the rules of the game, is:

De•tour - Teams have to make a choice between two tasks, each with its pros and cons.

Blind U-Turn - Once a team has completed the Detour, a team may use their U-Turn ability to force another team to backtrack and complete the Detour option they did not previously complete. [Thanks, Wikipedia, for helping me explain a U-Turn] Since this one was a “Blind” one, the team using their U-Turn ability remains anonymous (which is more reason to use it, because there isn’t a team gunning for you, if they don’t know you hurt their game).

Louis & Michael finished the Detour first and chose to use the Blind U-Turn on Joey and Heidi. They seemed to think that Joe was too cocky, so they wanted to humble him, I guess? That’s a stupid reason. Joe has a bum knee, so they aren’t big enough competition to make such a huge move. They should’ve used it on the cowboys. Those cowboys may have been in, what was it, fifth place? But they’re sure to catch up and be number one again.

Anyway, that little U-Turn really changed Joe & Heidi and Jordan & Jeff’s fate. The Detour that every team chose was a physical one where they had to crawl through trenches and under barbed wire, as if they were soldiers in a war, retrieve a message, crawl back to their start point and send the message with a carrier pigeon. Joe & Heidi now had to decode a Morse coded message as planes flew just over their heads and bombs went off, flinging chunks of dirt everywhere. While they were busy trying to decipher the code, Jordan & Jeff were slowly completely their different tasks.

Before I reveal who made it and who came in last and whether this was another non-elimination, let me just say that I have a new team that I’m rooting for: Daniel & Jordan, the brothers (one straight, one gay). They are hilarious. When they suited up for the Detour, Jordan asked if they should run and pretend they’re being chased by the enemy. So they both start running and Jordan gets into the role and speaks in a British accent for some reason about the enemy coming after them. Meanwhile, Daniel tells him to shut up. They end up getting into an argument about Daniel running too fast when all Jordan wanted to do was role-play. So, when Jordan suggested they run, he just meant jog while talking in fake British accents! Haha! They bicker like old people. I love them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still Team Jordan & Jeff (even though I like saying Jeff & Jordan), but Daniel & Jordan are gaining on them. The Amazing Race for My Affection, right?

ELIMINATED:

JOE & HEIDI

At first, I thought Joe was going to be the Alpha-Male type where he yells at his wife to move faster and be stronger, but he was actually very good to her. He said he was so proud of her many times. It’s unfortunate that they lost out on the Morse code task due to a U-Turn. They never got past that challenge, so Phil had to trek over to them and tell them that they’ve been eliminated. They knew that Louis & Michael used the U-Turn on them and though it’s annoying, they understood and accepted that it’s part of the game. I’m glad they were good sports about it.

Project Runway - Hard Wear [spoiler]

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:10:00 -0400

In this episode, the challenge was to “create an unconventional look using hardware materials” and in addition, the designers have to make an accessory.

So, let’s just take a look at Amy Sarabi’s dress because I like her work. Her dress is cute and doesn’t give the sense of hardware store materials. Job well done. She’s not in the top three though, she’s just safe this week.

I thought Anthony’s dress was also pretty good and safe, but the judges thought it was too plain and he wound up in the bottom three. I don’t know, I think there were worse outfits than Anthony’s dress. I mean, at least his looked like an actual dress and resembled fabric. Ben’s outfit was like a suit of armor. While his garment was walking down the runway, Ben’s commentary was that the dress looked like it was levitating around her…I’m not sure I’d put it that way and I also wouldn’t say it like a positive thing. It was so stiff! Suit. Of. Armor.

Who made the top three instead of Sarabi? Mila, of course. And why? Why? I don’t know why! The judges seemed to think she made tiles not look like tiles. Umm… they look like tiles. Not impressed. I do like the accessory which is that band on her right arm. I don’t know what it says but it seems quirky.

Another top-three-er is Maya Luz. Her outfit was pretty cool. She made a jacket thing out of wire or something and a necklace out of keys! And rather plain dress, which only accentuates the jacket and accessory. Good choice.

Our final contestant that made the top three is Jay. He made his outfit almost entirely out of trash bags. He just added some colored tape for the top. This outfit is pretty amazing. He made it look like leather and I guess it really looks like leather in person because the judges seemed to be fooled. The accessory is the braided belt also made of trash bags.

Other than Anthony, Jesse also made the bottom three. His dress is eh, bordering on costume. It does have some interesting qualities to it though. The hair accessory is cute and the judges seemed to like the back with the intentional asymmetry. I don’t know if I love Jesse’s constant use of skewed symmetry, but I suppose that’s just his thing.

And the worst of them all… Sosa. Emilio Sosa. (I don’t know why but Amy Sarabi and Emilio Sosa are the two designers that I always refer to by their last names.) So, Emilio decided to buy a whole thing of wire and a thing of washers. He has, I think, the tallest model (at least six-feet-tall) and he thinks some wires and a few washers will cover her up. Well, they didn’t. As you can especially see from the back. He tried to sell his outfit off as a bikini/swimsuit, claiming that he knew everyone was going to make a dress and he wanted to take a different route. The judges bought what he was selling, I guess.

Winner of the challenge:

JAY NICOLAS SARIO

His outfit looked pretty good, but how awesome was Maya Luz’s accessory? I’m glad it’s difficult to pick a winner this season because there are a larger selection of innovative designs, as opposed to last season which had… how to put it gently.. less creative designers. My top three for the entire show (in no particular order): Jay, Maya, Sarabi.

Who’s out:

JESSE LENOIR

I think that Jesse is arrogant. There was a point in the beginning of this season (like, the first episode) where I thought he might be the Logan of this season because he’s handsome (in a young male designer way) but he’s no Logan. As one of my friend put it: there is no other Logan. All that being said, I don’t think Jesse should have gone in this episode. Emilio should have gotten the boot for that “bikini”. Jesse’s outfit wasn’t great, but at least it had some interesting things going for it. Also, his outfits from last week were really good (he was in the top three). Emilio is lucky he has a model that looks like a real-life Barbie doll (second week in a row she looks like Barbie and adorned all in pink).

writing stuffs & watching funnies

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:00:18 -0500

Forget about writing/recapping/reviewing/critiquing, I am behind on watching my shows. I haven’t written about any comedy shows in a while, but I made a conscious decision to keep posts about sitcoms to a minimum. I mean, there are funny parts but as for recapping/reviewing: a sitcom is only half an hour—they’re usually worth just watching yourself because sometimes there are so many funnies that it winds up being lame to write (or to read) it all [see 30 Rock, Cougar Town, Modern Family]. And critiquing: there isn’t anything to critique…unless I just criticize the jokes. Should I just write jokes they should have said? Just write my own script and post it as what the plot should have been in that episode? That would be rude… should I do it? Also, a lot of sitcoms are visually hilarious (facial expressions and comedic pause/timing) [see Modern Family].

Expect Skins posts in the next few days. Oh boy… the things that have been going on.. no spoilers here, but…oh boy…

Skins - Freddie

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:56:00 -0500

Remember when I said that Freddie is dull? I think the writers agree with me and that’s why Freddie’s episode is mostly about Effy. So Effy, essentially, gets two episodes this season. Poor Pandora, not even one episode to call her own. Naomi’s in the same boat but she kind of shared Emily’s episode so I guess she’s alright. Oh, there’s no Naomily in Freddie’s episode. Just Effy, Freddie, more Effy, little bit of Katie, Effy, Effy, Effy.

The episode begins with Freddie and Effy taking every drug ever and enjoying each other’s company. It seems they’ve been skipping classes at school and spending every moment drunk and drugged out together at Effy’s house (her mother is away on vacation).

On this particular day, though, Freddie has to go into school for a disciplinary. He makes a stop at home, where he runs into Karen and finds his dad poking around his room.

Once Freddie gets to school, he meets with the educational intervention specialist/adviser, played by Will Young, who seems to have an unusual admiration for Michael Jackson.

When Freddie gets back “home” (Effy’s house) he finds a crazy Effy. She’s cutting up all sorts of images from magazines and wallpapering her mother’s room with it all. Freddie puts her to bed and tries to get himself in order to no avail.

The next morning, Freddie tries to find out what’s wrong with Effy. Instead, they wind up getting into a bit of an argument where Effy tells him to piss off. He leaves, she cries to herself. He goes to school and decides to talk to the guidance counselor, but she’s out. Who’s covering for her? Why, guest star Will Young as Mr. Love, of course.

Immediately after his session with T.Love, he finds a load of texts from Effy.

After checking his messages, he unfolds a sheet of paper about a specific mental disorder (Manic-Depressive). He proceeds to fold it into a crane and hand it off to a little boy sitting on the same bench as him. What a funny surprise that child will find if he chooses to unfold the crane…

Freddie pays his grandfather a visit. They have a chat over a game of ping pong. Through this visit, we learn more about Freddie’s family—his mother had a mental disorder but it went untreated for a long time, eventually leading to suicide. Oh and those cranes that Freddie makes? His mum (US: mom) has a whole display of them. The more she made, the worse she got, according to Gramps.

After his visit as he’s riding his bike back home, he gets hit by a guy riding a rickshaw. So, the rickshaw man gives him a ride home where there appears to be a house party. Freddie rushes in, looking for Effy.

Side story: recognizable attendees of this party include Katie, JJ, Thomas and Pandora. Earlier that day, Pandora walked by Thomas, sharply questioning “What are you staring at?!” and at the party she slaps him and proceeds to push him up against a wall a lay a forceful kiss on him.

Back to the main story line: instead of finding Effy, he finds a message on the wall that read “Goodbye” so he rushes upstairs.

Effy is inside the room and has locked the door. Uh-oh, seems like teen trouble! Freddie shouts for her to open the door and seems to hold his breath momentarily but is relieved once he hears the latch unlock from inside. He goes and talks to a frightened Effy on the floor.

She asks him to make everyone leave. He complies. However, there seems to be one guest that remains in the house. When Freddie goes to check out who the trespasser is, it turns out to be Cook.

—>

Apparently he has escaped from his jail sentence. It’s not really explained, but legal issues are never really explained on Skins so… moving on… Effy wants Cook gone. Freddie tells Cook to stay at his place’s shed (the old hangout spot for the lads). The next morning, Freddie has a quick chat with Cook and then has a confrontation with his father at the house.

He heads back to Effy and takes her out to have a nice day, with that same rickshaw man as their personal chauffeur. They are chasing each other in a green meadow and things are going great until Effy starts to freak out. She sees people coming after her. Apparently, she could always see these people, but since she’s never really been happy, they’ve stayed away. Now that she is truly happy with Freddie, they want to destroy her. Freddie doesn’t understand but runs out into the open field swearing he’ll protect Effy from anything. The imaginary people disperse. Effy is giggling at first but then her giggles return to fear. She wants to be taken home.

Effy is the passenger as Freddie drives the rickshaw back to the house. However, while they were gone, Effy’s mum has returned from her trip to a pig sty and no Effy to be found. When Freddie and Effy are near the house, they see her talking to a police officer. In an effort to avert trouble, Freddie continues to ride the rickshaw in an opposite direction.

And wouldn’t you know it, he rides Effy right into a throng of people. There is some sort of street carnival going on where people are wearing costumes and masks. Oh, and Katie is in a revealing angel’s costume atop a float… hmm.. let’s just go with it. So Effy runs out of the rickshaw, ya know, freaking out and all. Katie spots her and calls her up on her float. Then, they regroup with Freddie who takes them to his grandfather’s retirement home. Grandpa tells the girls to head to the cafeteria while he talks to his grandson.

Within the short time that Freddie and his grandfather talk about how Effy needs help, Katie rushes back in saying that Effy has locked herself in the bathroom. Freddie rushes to the restrooms. Again he is met with a locked door but this time he breaks through rather than waiting around for Effy to open from within. He opens up and finds Effy with self-inflicted slits on her wrists. He calls for help. In the next scene, he is feverishly making those cranes in the waiting room of a hospital. When he goes into Effy’s hospital room, she is cold toward him and tells him to “go away”.

Freddie goes to Effy’s home here she plastered the walls with magazine clippings. He rips everything off the walls and dramatically burns it all in an empty trash can. He is met by Cook who consoles him and they have a friendly embrace.

Look at Freddie’s picture burning away in the flames. Can you handle this drama?

Next episode is JJ’s which should be good. Actually, I know it’s good because I’ve watched it already since this post is already so long overdue… I apologize to no one.