It’s taking everything in my power to not write this as a snap judgment. Everything. In. My. Power. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Laura Linney. She is luminous and raw and brave and harrowing. Not necessarily in this, but in films and television shows in the past. And she’s absolutely the best thing in this mess of a show.
Let’s talk about what I didn’t like: Oliver Platt’s Paul is a baby and she calls him on it. She even tells her son she only wants to raise one child and she picks him, which is why his father no longer lives with them. Her son Adam is such a spoiled brat that he pretends to be a thief, then pretends to cut his own finger off, and finally he won’t plunge the toilet after he stops it up. Oh, and he screams like a girl. Her brother Sean is strange. He’s homeless by choice and is kind of an eco-terrorist. I mean, we haven’t seem him do anything violent (yet) but he’s very confrontational.
Let’s talk about what I kinda like: Marlene starts out as an unpleasant neighbor who calls the police on Cathy but ends up as someone who is probably going to be a great friend. After years of living her life to die, Marlene seems to finally have awoken. Gabby Sidibe’s Andrea is a mean girl who Cathy wants to help turn into a skinny b*tch. Cathy tells her she’s give her $100 for every pound she loses, as long as she stops smoking. Apparently, every cigarette you smoke takes six months off your life. Cathy is full of these fun little facts. Cathy’s oncologist Dr. Todd seems like he’s a good doctor. Cathy is his first terminal case. I think he’s handling pretty well but considering her attitude I’m not sure how he could be handling it better.
I’d like to have dessert and alcohol at every meal. Well, that’s not true. I’d love dessert with every meal. If I have to have cancer in order to do that, as Liz Lemon would say that’s a deal breaker. I find her attitude about her cancer very strange and yet kind of refreshing. It’s her choice whether or not to tell anyone about her condition and she’s chosen to keep it to herself. She’s finally breaking out of her “boring” and “nice” mold and living her life. Now, it’s preferable to do that before you get a death sentence but at least she’s doing what she wants to do.
I will give this at least one more episode and, frankly, it’s only because of Laura Linney. Please oh please make it a good one.
I do realize there is a possibility I am in the minority here as the season premiere broke some records. Check it out.
Showing posts with label first watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first watch. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
First Watch_Covert Affairs: Pilot by Kara Howland
I think I might lose your respect after what I’m about to say so I’m just going to say it and get it out of the way. I didn’t hate Coyote Ugly. I know a lot of people did but I didn’t. In fact, I’d watch it right now if it came on HBO or Showtime. Since Piper Perabo did that film I’ve been waiting for her to break out and I think she’s finally found her vehicle. And I’ve loved Christopher Gorham since Popular. He pretty much can do no wrong for me. Then you add in Peter Gallagher and Kari Matchett. I don’t know about you but I’m in heaven. And they’ve got Anne Dudek? It’s an embarrassment of riches. Anyone who’s seen Mad Men or House knows what I’m talking about.
I’m going to do a micro recap and then expand from there. Basically, if you didn’t watch the show you should give it a try. I didn’t love it but I did like it. I think some reviewers are calling this Alias-lite but I’ll disagree. There are elements that are similar but I think there is enough that is new and different here to keep me entertained and engaged.
So, Annie fell in love two years ago and it ended badly. After that she vowed to herself to never get burned again. Enter the CIA. She can use her love of languages and travel and her ability to basically become anyone she wants to do her job. A Russian assassin Stas is coming in from the cold but he’s assassinated as Annie gets his intel. Only, it turns out the guy she met with was a patsy. The real assassin wants people think he’s dead so he can take out his real target. Annie stops him before he can but he turns on her. Before he can kill Annie someone – who looks just like her ex – saves her by killing the assassin. She receives a commendation. Her bosses are pleased they’ve drawn her ex out of hiding. It looks like that’s the whole reason Annie’s at the CIA in the first place. Oh, and she has some decent banter with a fellow CIA agent and flirts with an FBI agent who is on her tail. Meanwhile, Annie’s boss Joan uses agency resources to find out if her husband Arthur, also a director at the agency, is cheating on her.
Now here are the details that flesh out our story:
- When we meet Annie Walker she’s talking a polygraph for admittance into the CIA. She’s 28 and speaks 6 languages.
- At an all hands briefing at the Office of the D.C.S. (Director of Clandestine Services) we learn there’s a traitor in their midst. Classified information is being leaked to a reporter.
- Auggie Anderson, former special ops in Iraq who was blinded by an IED, is with tech ops and will be her guide for the day. He tells her 50% of the agency is young – the agents have 5 years or less job experience. No cell phones in the building, polygraphs every year, no dating foreigners. The CIA encourages dating within the agency since they’re all already within the circle of trust.
- Annie will be working for the Domestic Protection Division. Annie’s never heard of it before and that’s exactly the way Joan wants it. Every global threat that makes it into US borders is dealt with here.
- When Stas is killed Annie doesn’t have a chance to retrieve the PDA that was the intel they need. She pretends to be a hooker again and get back in the room. She gets close enough to the PDA for the data transfer. During all this she meets FBI Agent Rasabi. I like him. They have chemistry.
- Joan and Arthur are in marriage counseling.
- Auggie is seriously popular with the ladies. Even though he’s blind he can tell whether or not a woman is hot. He just has to listen to the way other guys talk to her.
- A mystery BMW, which later we later discover belongs to her ex Ben, is following her home from happy hour. She turns it around on her pursuer but getting the upper hand and pursuing him. But her car craps out on her and she loses him.
- Annie’s sister has invited a blind date for Annie to her dinner party. The mustache Ethan is rocking is a bit too much for me and he’s way too eager. He loves him some Zinf and he talks a lot. A LOT.
- Arthur meets with the reporter who is published the leaked information. She tells him she won’t give up her sources.
- Annie goes to Georgetown University to see an old professor. From him she learns that the man they thought with Stas is a patsy. He called her Kiisu, which is Estonian. Someone from Moscow would never use that term. And even though Annie denies it, her professor urges her not to work for the CIA.
- Joan order Annie back to training but Auggie urges her to show some initiative, which is how they end up at the morgue. If the guy she met with was really Stas he would have tattoos from spending ten years in prison. This guy is tattoo free.
- FBI agent Rabasi catches Annie and Auggie at the morgue but she’s able to maintain her cover. Rabasi suspects she’s CIA but can’t prove it. When Rabasi gets a call from his boss’s boss he has to release them. Her chemistry with the FBI agent during the interrogation was hot. I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of him.
- After looking at the threat matrix, Joan determines that the person Stas is targeting is Petrov, an outspoken Russian journalist. He’s at the Smithsonian right now.
- Annie and Joan arrive in time to prevent the assassination. Annie sees a man there she recognizes – the Spanish businessman who flirted with her in the hotel lobby. That’s Stas. She pursues and they end up in the subway. Stas is about to kill her, when Ben shows up and kills Stas. Annie can’t be sure it’s Ben though, she didn’t get a good look.
- Ben still has the bracelet he bought when he was in Sri Lanka with Annie.
There is a lot of potential here and I can’t wait to see what happens next week. I love Anne Dudek so I’m hoping to see just a bit more of Annie’s home life. The dynamic between Peter Gallaher’s Arthur and Kari Matchett’s Joan is very interesting. I hope they don’t overdo it though. Joan seems like a strong woman with great ambition. I don’t want to see her mired down in suspicion about her husband’s extracurricular activities. Even though it seems like he’s innocent, I wouldn’t take that at face value.
But let’s talk about Annie. I don’t want to see her cut herself off too much. Her relationship with Auggie is fun and I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes – and I don’t mean romantically. Conrad didn’t make much of an impression on me. I didn’t really like their banter but I loved Annie’s scenes with the FBI agent. I thought that was hot. I’m interested to learn more about Ben and why he left Annie so suddenly two years ago and when he’s resurfaced now. It’s clear he cares about Annie but I hope there is something else going on.
What did you think?
I’m going to do a micro recap and then expand from there. Basically, if you didn’t watch the show you should give it a try. I didn’t love it but I did like it. I think some reviewers are calling this Alias-lite but I’ll disagree. There are elements that are similar but I think there is enough that is new and different here to keep me entertained and engaged.
So, Annie fell in love two years ago and it ended badly. After that she vowed to herself to never get burned again. Enter the CIA. She can use her love of languages and travel and her ability to basically become anyone she wants to do her job. A Russian assassin Stas is coming in from the cold but he’s assassinated as Annie gets his intel. Only, it turns out the guy she met with was a patsy. The real assassin wants people think he’s dead so he can take out his real target. Annie stops him before he can but he turns on her. Before he can kill Annie someone – who looks just like her ex – saves her by killing the assassin. She receives a commendation. Her bosses are pleased they’ve drawn her ex out of hiding. It looks like that’s the whole reason Annie’s at the CIA in the first place. Oh, and she has some decent banter with a fellow CIA agent and flirts with an FBI agent who is on her tail. Meanwhile, Annie’s boss Joan uses agency resources to find out if her husband Arthur, also a director at the agency, is cheating on her.
Now here are the details that flesh out our story:
- When we meet Annie Walker she’s talking a polygraph for admittance into the CIA. She’s 28 and speaks 6 languages.
- At an all hands briefing at the Office of the D.C.S. (Director of Clandestine Services) we learn there’s a traitor in their midst. Classified information is being leaked to a reporter.
- Auggie Anderson, former special ops in Iraq who was blinded by an IED, is with tech ops and will be her guide for the day. He tells her 50% of the agency is young – the agents have 5 years or less job experience. No cell phones in the building, polygraphs every year, no dating foreigners. The CIA encourages dating within the agency since they’re all already within the circle of trust.
- Annie will be working for the Domestic Protection Division. Annie’s never heard of it before and that’s exactly the way Joan wants it. Every global threat that makes it into US borders is dealt with here.
- When Stas is killed Annie doesn’t have a chance to retrieve the PDA that was the intel they need. She pretends to be a hooker again and get back in the room. She gets close enough to the PDA for the data transfer. During all this she meets FBI Agent Rasabi. I like him. They have chemistry.
- Joan and Arthur are in marriage counseling.
- Auggie is seriously popular with the ladies. Even though he’s blind he can tell whether or not a woman is hot. He just has to listen to the way other guys talk to her.
- A mystery BMW, which later we later discover belongs to her ex Ben, is following her home from happy hour. She turns it around on her pursuer but getting the upper hand and pursuing him. But her car craps out on her and she loses him.
- Annie’s sister has invited a blind date for Annie to her dinner party. The mustache Ethan is rocking is a bit too much for me and he’s way too eager. He loves him some Zinf and he talks a lot. A LOT.
- Arthur meets with the reporter who is published the leaked information. She tells him she won’t give up her sources.
- Annie goes to Georgetown University to see an old professor. From him she learns that the man they thought with Stas is a patsy. He called her Kiisu, which is Estonian. Someone from Moscow would never use that term. And even though Annie denies it, her professor urges her not to work for the CIA.
- Joan order Annie back to training but Auggie urges her to show some initiative, which is how they end up at the morgue. If the guy she met with was really Stas he would have tattoos from spending ten years in prison. This guy is tattoo free.
- FBI agent Rabasi catches Annie and Auggie at the morgue but she’s able to maintain her cover. Rabasi suspects she’s CIA but can’t prove it. When Rabasi gets a call from his boss’s boss he has to release them. Her chemistry with the FBI agent during the interrogation was hot. I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of him.
- After looking at the threat matrix, Joan determines that the person Stas is targeting is Petrov, an outspoken Russian journalist. He’s at the Smithsonian right now.
- Annie and Joan arrive in time to prevent the assassination. Annie sees a man there she recognizes – the Spanish businessman who flirted with her in the hotel lobby. That’s Stas. She pursues and they end up in the subway. Stas is about to kill her, when Ben shows up and kills Stas. Annie can’t be sure it’s Ben though, she didn’t get a good look.
- Ben still has the bracelet he bought when he was in Sri Lanka with Annie.
There is a lot of potential here and I can’t wait to see what happens next week. I love Anne Dudek so I’m hoping to see just a bit more of Annie’s home life. The dynamic between Peter Gallaher’s Arthur and Kari Matchett’s Joan is very interesting. I hope they don’t overdo it though. Joan seems like a strong woman with great ambition. I don’t want to see her mired down in suspicion about her husband’s extracurricular activities. Even though it seems like he’s innocent, I wouldn’t take that at face value.
But let’s talk about Annie. I don’t want to see her cut herself off too much. Her relationship with Auggie is fun and I’m looking forward to seeing where that goes – and I don’t mean romantically. Conrad didn’t make much of an impression on me. I didn’t really like their banter but I loved Annie’s scenes with the FBI agent. I thought that was hot. I’m interested to learn more about Ben and why he left Annie so suddenly two years ago and when he’s resurfaced now. It’s clear he cares about Annie but I hope there is something else going on.
What did you think?
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
First Watch: Rizzoli & Isles by Tina Charles
I'm not someone who likes to be negative so when I don't like a show it's difficult for me. So I'm happy to report I really enjoyed the pilot for TNT's newest crime show Rizzoli & Isles. The two leads know their way around a crime drama. Angie Harmon plays tough Boston detective Jane Rizzoli. Harmon's best known for her three-year run on NBC's Law & Order as ADA Abbie Carmichael. But she has also starred in ABC's Women's Murder Club and let's not forget she cut her investigative teeth as the Hoff's detective partner on Baywatch Nights. Meanwhile, Dawson's Creek alum Sasha Alexander is arguably best known for playing Special Agent Caitlyn "Kate" Todd on the first two seasons of CBS' NCIS. She's the super smart very fashionably dressed medical examiner Maura Isles. All I can think about is the fact that Sasha is "Ducky" on this show. Well, if Ducky were a woman who wears lots of designer clothes and Louboutin shoes. This girl has never heard of Casual Friday.
One of my litmus tests for any new show is the chemistry of the cast. And right away, I'm enjoying the friendship between Rizzoli and Isles. The two are opposites of course: Rizzoli's no frills, one of the guys, and takes the tough cop thing to heart. She definitely seems a little damaged. She has her family around, but as we learn in the pilot she's the target of a serial killer (or two). This guy had gotten the best of her before so she damn well wasn't going to let him get away this time around. Plus, even though Jane's allergic to dogs, she ends up adopting a stray which I guess will serve to help bring out more of her feminine side. We definitely find out much more about Rizzoli in this episode. Hopefully we'll find out more about Isles soon. She's intriguing. Much like Jane, Maura's beautiful and she's smart. Really, really smart. Like reeling inane facts off the top of her head smart. Her inner nerd is offset by her outward model-type looks. She dresses to the nines for every occasion. Like I said, I'm curious to learn more about her background. I mean, she also has a giant tortoise as a pet. Sasha and Angie work well together and I think they'll gel even more as the series continues. Right away Rizzoli and Isles sort of show interest in the same guy (FBI Agent Gabriel Dean), but it's clear Rizzoli is more in need of companionship than the coroner. And Isles helps the flirtation between Jane and the visiting agent progress.
The case is personal for Rizzoli which makes it kind of interesting. What I did love is that for much of the episode the males in her life (her brother, her cop colleagues, even FBI Agent Dean), rally around her and want to protect her from the serial killers who are after her. But in the end, Rizzoli's forced to save herself. I really liked that. At this point, I just really want to learn more about Dr. Maura Isles so hopefully she'll be quickly incorporated into the show even further. This show has the makings of a keeper. I'm going to record the series on my DVR. The cast chemistry has lots of potential, although the dialogue doesn't always seem to snap, crackle and pop. The show tries a little too hard to make the characters quirky but things should settle as the series continues. And I'm curious as to how all the cases are going to play out. But I'm definitely on board for the foreseeable future. It won't be a weekly blog, but if something big happens or I want to highlight one aspect of the show, I'll post a new column.
Cast Notes
Other cast members include: Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos), Bruce McGill (MacGyver) and Lee Thompson Young (Jett Jackson, Smallville, FlashForward). Marisa Ramirez (General Hospital, Miracles, Mental) plays Harmon's neighbor. I'm unclear as to whether she'll continue in that capacity. Bella's dad on Twilight plays the FBI agent in the first episode and he shares a nice chemistry with Harmon's Rizzoli. I love Billy Burke in the Twilight saga so I hope his character comes back at some point. Michael Massee plays one of the killers. He almost always plays a villain, he's really good at being creepy. Supernatural fans will recognize him as Kubrick, Gordon's partner in crime in both "Bad Day at Black Rock" and "Fresh Blood."
Random Thought
Ratings Update
Rizzoli & Isles had a huge debut. According to tvbythenumbers.com, R&I became "cable's #1 commercial-supported series launch of all time" reeling in 7.6 million viewers. Congrats, TNT!
One of my litmus tests for any new show is the chemistry of the cast. And right away, I'm enjoying the friendship between Rizzoli and Isles. The two are opposites of course: Rizzoli's no frills, one of the guys, and takes the tough cop thing to heart. She definitely seems a little damaged. She has her family around, but as we learn in the pilot she's the target of a serial killer (or two). This guy had gotten the best of her before so she damn well wasn't going to let him get away this time around. Plus, even though Jane's allergic to dogs, she ends up adopting a stray which I guess will serve to help bring out more of her feminine side. We definitely find out much more about Rizzoli in this episode. Hopefully we'll find out more about Isles soon. She's intriguing. Much like Jane, Maura's beautiful and she's smart. Really, really smart. Like reeling inane facts off the top of her head smart. Her inner nerd is offset by her outward model-type looks. She dresses to the nines for every occasion. Like I said, I'm curious to learn more about her background. I mean, she also has a giant tortoise as a pet. Sasha and Angie work well together and I think they'll gel even more as the series continues. Right away Rizzoli and Isles sort of show interest in the same guy (FBI Agent Gabriel Dean), but it's clear Rizzoli is more in need of companionship than the coroner. And Isles helps the flirtation between Jane and the visiting agent progress.
The case is personal for Rizzoli which makes it kind of interesting. What I did love is that for much of the episode the males in her life (her brother, her cop colleagues, even FBI Agent Dean), rally around her and want to protect her from the serial killers who are after her. But in the end, Rizzoli's forced to save herself. I really liked that. At this point, I just really want to learn more about Dr. Maura Isles so hopefully she'll be quickly incorporated into the show even further. This show has the makings of a keeper. I'm going to record the series on my DVR. The cast chemistry has lots of potential, although the dialogue doesn't always seem to snap, crackle and pop. The show tries a little too hard to make the characters quirky but things should settle as the series continues. And I'm curious as to how all the cases are going to play out. But I'm definitely on board for the foreseeable future. It won't be a weekly blog, but if something big happens or I want to highlight one aspect of the show, I'll post a new column.
Cast Notes
Other cast members include: Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos), Bruce McGill (MacGyver) and Lee Thompson Young (Jett Jackson, Smallville, FlashForward). Marisa Ramirez (General Hospital, Miracles, Mental) plays Harmon's neighbor. I'm unclear as to whether she'll continue in that capacity. Bella's dad on Twilight plays the FBI agent in the first episode and he shares a nice chemistry with Harmon's Rizzoli. I love Billy Burke in the Twilight saga so I hope his character comes back at some point. Michael Massee plays one of the killers. He almost always plays a villain, he's really good at being creepy. Supernatural fans will recognize him as Kubrick, Gordon's partner in crime in both "Bad Day at Black Rock" and "Fresh Blood."
Random Thought
- With the presence of Sasha Alexander, I couldn't help play connect the dots between NCIS and Rizzoli & Isles. All I could think of when Dr. Isles said she had to take a trip to Quantico for a different case and the investigation started involving a military green beret is that maybe NCIS could help out or something. They threw around words/terms like "National Security" and "soldier" and "Chairman of the Armed Services Committee." What was I supposed to think? First episode and I'm already looking for a crossover! Earlier, Jane and Maura were trying to decipher a clue and the jumbled up word ended up spelling out Theodore Bundy. You know who played Ted Bundy in a TV movie, right? NCIS' Mark Harmon. Okay the NCIS comparisons end there.
Ratings Update
Rizzoli & Isles had a huge debut. According to tvbythenumbers.com, R&I became "cable's #1 commercial-supported series launch of all time" reeling in 7.6 million viewers. Congrats, TNT!
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