Kacey and the Art of Surprise....

This is a long over-due blog… I feel like so much has happen.

Jamie mentioned in her last blog that I was headed to Bali for my two week spring break. PSYCH! I snuck home like a ninja and surprised the crap out of my family. It was awesome! But now I’m back in Abu Dhabi until summer.

The second thing that has been happening just in the past week… I started watching Battlestar Galactica and last night I finished season one. Now thankfully I have Netflix and won’t have to wait for a whole summer to find out what happens…but the surprise ending of the first season, combined with my recent awesome surprise home got me thinking about all the other shocking moments… well in television.

And TA-DA I came up with a blog!

WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS (Granted slightly outdated spoilers…BUT STILL MAJOR SPOILERS)!

Now obviously this is totally my personal list regarding moments that I remember watching television and say “holy &#?%!” … and honestly this day in age with spoilers all over the internet it’s hard to do that (as I have recently discovered with Downtown Abbey because I have NOT watched season 3)…but here some moments from some of my favorite shows.

Friends… Ross’s wedding to Emily. Two things: Monica and Chandler in bed together and then Ross saying Rachel’s name at his wedding. Oops!

Alias… SOOO many WTF moments in this show, but perhaps the one that made me physically react the most because I was on the edge of my seat  was Vaughn starting to tell Sydney who he really was but then BAM! They are hit by a truck…end of season.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer… There are two here. Buffy dying was pretty shocking….but the show was returning so I knew it wasn’t permanent. Probably even more shocking was her mom dying. With all the violence and death on this show… her mom dying from natural causes ended up being the most tragic of all.

Doctor Who… surprises at every turn here and I could say either the separating of Doctor and Companion  or a regeneration is always a bit intense, but since I’ve started watching Doctor Who I always knew those were coming. However so much happened along the way that I didn’t see coming… Few moments I remember going “WHAT!”: River Song meeting the Doctor but he didn’t know who she was (and we didn’t know who River was)… Amy being fake Amy…Amy and Rory being River’s parents… Every time Rory died… and River being the Doctor’s wife. Yes most of those have to do with River. Overall Moffat just keeps me guessing.

Lost….lord we don’t have time for that.

Battlestar Galactica… Okay I’m only one season in, but the end of that first season when Boomer shoots the Old Man was a total heart stopper.

Torchwood… when everybody dies. First Toshiko and Owen die… at the end of season 2… than Ianto dies in mini-series “Children of Earth” which is possibly one of the most intense and most shocking mini-series ever. Jack sacrifices his own grandson to save the world... just... too much.

Grey's Anatomy… so the finale where Meredith realizes their unknown crash victim was George was honestly when I stopped watching. That was such an edge of the seat season ending and I had to spend the whole summer wondering if he died (or Izzy). The next season just couldn’t live up to it. (However, Sarah has informed me about later happenings as she is a dedicated fan and I hear the finale with the gunman tops all other season finales.)

Fringe… again another JJ Abrams creation full of crazy-ass shit. But it all really kicked off when I realized that Olivia had managed to cross over to another universe at the end of season 1 and Leonard Nimoy was waiting for her in the alternative universe. Crazy.

Sherlock the miniseries…I didn’t know much about Sherlock Holmes before this miniseries and the Robert Downey Jr. movie versions, but I knew enough to know that Sherlock falls and “dies” in the “Reichenbach Fall” (but doesn’t really die). However, the whole finale of the second season and all the twists and turns about Moriarty setting Sherlock up just blew me away…and I still found the end utterly shocking.

I wasn’t alive for it actually happening… but honorable mention goes to M*A*S*H and the announcement of the death of Col. Blake because story goes that not even the cast new it was coming. It still gives me shivers and brings me to tears just thinking about it.

Okay that’s enough for now… there might be more later because the surprises just continue, especially as I continue to watch new shows. But I don’t want to give too much away!

Coming Soon: Sarah composes an impassioned essay about the importance of pencil safety.

Jamie's Top Five "OMFG They Kissed!" Moments on TV

I don't know if you watch the New Girl or not. It has its horrifically awkward moments. For me, the fact that all the characters are ridiculous and awkward together is what makes it work. And it really does work; I have been known to laugh so hard while watching this show that there is a danger of choking to death. When we watch it during dinner (thank you ‘on demand’), it's a bit of a safety hazard. But, in addition to being hilarious and awkward and ridiculous, I also like the characters. And like everyone else, I have been shipping Nick & Jess since episode one. Because it's just so perfect and obvious. We know it, hell, even they know it. It was inevitable. I had even seen enough spoiler reports to know that something was coming up soon. But I did not expect the kiss that happened last night. Holy, wow. You know when the grandpa in the Princess Bride reads the end of the story – “Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.”, and then the kiss, which while very nice, is a bit of a letdown? (I mean, I love that movie and even that part, but that kiss isn't anything to write home about) Well, I think this Nick and Jess kiss is the one that may have wiped them all off the map. Of course, being the TV-phile that I am, I had to give some real thought to what they were wiping off the map. So, without further ado, leaving out Nick & Jess, here are my top 5 omfg they kissed TV kisses:

 

5. Castle & Beckett (Castle) - I know that these two were more when will they as opposed to will they or won't they, but that didn't make last season's finale any less awesome. Because it's Castle and Beckett. And that was one steamy scene when Beckett showed up back at Castle's after their fight and the trauma and her turning in her gun and badge...

4. Buffy & Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - I don't know how this happened, but it's Joss, so we'll just go with it. Sure, this was a part of depressing season six Buffy coming back from a pleasant afterlife to a relatively hell-like existence and hating everyone and everything a little bit, but no one more than herself… But, that kiss at the end of Once More with Feeling, some serious chemistry folks. 

3. Pacey & Joey (Dawson’s Creek) - He bought her a wall. And then he drove to pick her up because some stupid college boy broke her heart. And when he pulled the car over and we held our breaths and when he said we are not talking about Dawson, cause seriously, Dawson who? There is a reason we took to calling it The Creek in college, and then he just kissed her, it was kind of perfect.  Because he bought her a wall.

2. Sydney & Vaughn (Alias) - Not unlike Castle & Beckett, and probably even more so, this was a matter of when, not if. We all knew it was coming, cause who didn't want to jump Vaughn the very first time he showed up, and Sydney Bristow was the coolest most badass spy ever. Not chick spy, not lady spy, just spy.  Yeah, I said it, deal with it.  And because she was that awesome, only someone as hot and awesome as Vaughn was worthy of her (and even he faltered a little when he had that evil wife).  But before the evil wife, they took down the bad guys and finally got their moment.

1. Logan & Veronica (Veronica Mars) - Like Veronica & Logan, who had spent all previous episodes despising each other, except in flashbacks, we were not expecting this. But as soon as it happened, we pretty much never wanted it to stop.  

So, I don't know if Nick & Jess really wiped these 5 away, but just to be on the list is impressive. This list is full of hour long dramas, which had time to build up the tension and in some cases add some serious life and death stress. Plus, Buffy, Veronica, & Syd are among my all-time favorite characters, in TV, film, literature, etc. And the gentlemen on this list, well, let's just say most of them make my sexiest TV men of all-time list. (Pacey cannot be on the list because he belongs to Kacey, and there are rules).

So, anyhow, Nick & Jess, well done.

 

Books read: 2 (Dear Veronica Roth, please write your 3rd book and get it published immediately, Insurgent was amazing)

 

Coming soon: Sarah writes a response to this that laments the complete lack of Ross & Rachel on this list, with a small complaint about the lack of Kurt and Blaine.

 

Jamie Finally Started Watching Fringe (Please don't cancel it yet!)

After much pushing from Kacey and the use of Netflix, Amazon Instant Watch, and Xfinity On Demand I am completely caught up on Fringe.  As I worked my way through these three and a half seasons I could not help but think of other shows created by JJ Abrams.  I’ve comprised a list (super spoilery!!) of what you can expect when watching a JJ show, or, if you are an aspiring writer, what you may want to include in your show to get his backing:

Doubles – What a brilliant tactic, you kill of a major character, but keep the actor by putting in an imposter and waiting a few weeks (or longer) for the other characters to figure it out.  On Alias it was Francie, dead in the kitchen only to be replaced and then use poor Will to learn CIA secrets.  On Fringe we not only saw it happen to Charlie, but you never know when the shapeshifters might do it again. 

Prophesy – When they first pulled out that picture of Peter in the machine and again with Olivia playing a roll in the process, my first thought was of the image of Sydney in the Rembaldi prophesy.  I haven’t looked it up, but I feel like they used the same artist for both shows.  It is an excellent way to deal with the issue of fate vs free will, something that comes up time and time again in all of Abrams’ shows.

Romantic leads with the wrong person – Okay, so this isn’t unique to an Abrams series, but when Peter was shacking up with other Olivia I was yelling at the TV in the exact same way I was when Vaughn couldn’t see that Lauren was evil.  How could they not know? So, really, it's not just that they are with the wrong person, it's that the person they are with is actually evil. Or at least acting in an evil manner.  But I'm getting into the good vs evil topic and that comes later.

Daddy issues – So this is pretty much always present.  Peter & Walter and Peter & Walternate’s relationships are complicated in every timeline and every universe.  You could write an entire dissertation on the complicated back and forth relationship of Sydney & Jack.  But we can leave that for Sarah to handle in a future entry.  And Lost was a mass of characters whose issues with their fathers could keep a therapist busy for decades.  I wouldn’t want to make any assumptions about Abrams, but it is very consistent. Just saying, JJ, if you need to talk, we’re listening.  Let it out.

Badass chicks – As certain as you can expect to see some complicated father-daughter or father-son relationships on an Abrams series, you can also expect that the female lead could kick your ass.  I don’t really care who you are, her only competition would be one of Joss Whedon’s leading ladies.

Good vs Evil is not simple as it initially seems – Again, this is certainly not unique, but when watching Fringe I found that the relationship between the first universe we encounter and the second – from the perspective of both the audience and the characters – is very similar to the crash survivors and the Others on Lost.  We meet one group first and our initial introduction to the other side is so evil. The shapeshifters are killing people and causing chaos, the Others are kidnapping people. However, as we learn more about the other side and see things from their perspective, who is good and who is evil is far less certain.  While we maintain a certain degree of loyalty to our initial characters, we definitely abandon our black and white view of these complicated worlds.

Yell at the TV Cliffhangers and a constant fear of cancellation - Now that I’m finally watching a JJ Abrams show as it unfolds (I watched Alias on DVD and Lost on Netflix Instant Watch, both after the series had ended), I can now share the frustrations that come with taking such a risk.  First you live with the horrible cliffhangers week after week, and worry that the end of season will come with an even more insane ending and you’ll be stuck waiting all summer wondering what will happen. Like when Syd woke up and it was 2 years later and she had no memory of it or when Peter just up and disappeared… from existence.  And worse, as I am sucked further into the story and the lives of the characters I live in constant fear that some idiot at the top of the corporate food chain at Fox will cancel this show.  I mean really, what kind of ratings can you expect on a Friday night in the age of the internet and DVR.  Fingers crossed for season 5.

All in all, these are elements of great TV.  This is definitely not a criticism.  I like that I know what I'm getting when it says, from writer/creator/executive producer JJ Abrams, I'm getting quality, well-written TV and if lucky some time travel and red matter. 

Coming soon Sarah will write an epic poem on the adventures of Malcolm Reynolds, in iambic pentameter. 

Jamie's Top 5 ways Sark is like Spike

Now that Kacey has finished Alias, here it is, the top 5 ways in which Sark (Alias) is like Spike (Buffy).  I spent some time thinking about this because, well, these two deviants are among my favorite television characters of all time.  There are some Buffy season 6 issues that complicate some of this as tortured, in love with Buffy, but still doesn’t have a soul Spike is complex… to say the least.  (minor spoilers in the list, significant spoilers in the last paragraph)

1) Blonde. Thanks to a weekly dye job for Spike (or Captain Peroxide as he as been called), both are blonde.

2) Neither actor is actually British. Seriously. I was surprised too.  Especially since David Anders (Sark) is also British in his role as Adam on Heroes.

3) Flexible Loyalties. In other words, they are survivors. Sark flat out says that his loyalties are flexible. He is constantly changing sides to save his own ass and come out on the winning side.  Plus, I think he gets bored and just likes to change things up.  While Spike is very loyal to his lady love of the moment, after that he is certainly all about survival. If he needs to team up with the slayer to make sure Angel doesn't end the world or steal Dru, he has no problem with that.

4) They like to cuddle. Arguably the best line in all of Alias (at least as far as lines not said by Marshall), definitely of season 5, when Rachel makes clear, just in case she dies, that it was Sark who wanted to cuddle after their ill advised but very hot one night stand. And come on, we know that Spike is a cuddler. Between the poetry and his manly admission that he is love’s bitch, he is clearly not opposed to some serious cuddle time.

5) Respects the skills of their female nemesis. They often belittle their male nemeses, but seem to prepare more for the ladies, who can kick their asses. This probably says more about the creators/writers of these shows (than the characters themselves) that one characteristic of their most beloved villains is that they never underestimate the skills of their opponent just because she is female. Evil, selfish, sadistic, yes.  But they are practically feminists. 

Both of these shows are so wonderfully done, and have such brilliant, badass leads that it makes me appreciate even more the complexity of their nemeses.  And unlike some (many?), I love the end of both of these shows.  Now, the penultimate seasons of each show can be a little challenging to stick with, but I think it’s worth it to make it to the last season and their respective finales.  Sydney lives happily ever after, and Buffy, well, she lives on to fight another day.  [Coming soon: a look at the Buffy Season 8 Comic because the story there is too awesome to end.]