This week, 30 Rock set aside its master plot elements (the Dealbreakers talk show and the new cast member) for a one shot on Liz vying for a bigger apartment and Jack considering a vasectomy. Liz finds out that her apartment is being converted into a super-condo and determines that she will buy the apartment above her and convert it into the place of her dreams, the apartment she wants for her future children and her imaginary husband, astronaut Mike Dexter.
When she heads upstairs, she meets Bryan (Nathan Corddry, of Studio 60 fame) who doesn't have a tv and wears political t-shirts. Liz agrees to move in with him and privately schemes to drive him out. She first tries Jenna's method of becoming a drama queen, only to discover that Bryan is gay (and everyone knows, "drama is gay guy gatorade"). She then follows Tracy's advice that black people drive white people away, and so she recruits tha hapless Dot Com to pretend to be her angry black astronaut boyfriend. Unfortunately, Bryan is also a cop, and handles the situation easily. Finally, she uses Frank's disgusting "Sun Tea Method" of peeing in a jar to drive Bryan away.
Jack is shocked when he discovers that Don Geiss' son Bertram is suing Kathy Geiss for his father's inheritance, and decides he should get a vasectomy. When he asks Tracy for advice, Tracy raves about the downside of children, proclaiming, "I thought having children was going to be like The Cosby Show. Oh no, Vanessa went to a concert! Oh no, Rudy and I are making a sandwich for 25 minutes!" Unfortunately, having Tracy Jr. around (for "Take your black son to work" day, which is always on a wednesday) just keeps Tracy from telling his crazy story about when he went to a strip club with Charles Barkley and "one of the hobbits."
Jack and Tracy take their issues to Dr. Spaceman, who is of course willing to perform vasectomy's for them (and warns them not to eat before coming in, because of the huge breakfast he'll have waiting). Tracy goes under and has a hilarious Cosby fantasy, which convinces him he wants to have a girl, while Jack discovers the joy of having children as he helps Tracy Jr. write a paper about his awesome dad.
Much of the criticism about this season of 30 Rock rests on the idea that the characters are all pretty one note and therefore are hard to gain emotional stakes in. This may be valid, but as long as the one note the characters strike is as funny as it was tonight, 30 Rock can stay pretty shallow for years to come without drawing much complaint from me. I'll look elsewhere for my depth.
Grade: B
Notes:
-"Holding up one finger to get someone to stop talking? He invented that."
-"There are no rules. It's like check in at an Italian airport."
-"If he was a mokney, then why was he killed by a monkey?" I love Kenneth's understanding of science.
-TGS' topical cold open was abotu Omarosa borrowing Bjork's swan dress. Sounds like they are as on top of it as SNL of late.
-"I have this strip club story from this weekend to tell you, but I can't because I've got this little d-bag with me." "I know what that means." "And yet you won't tell me."
-"Who are Rudy and Vanessa?" "Your adorable sister and your sister!"
-Tracy yelling at the laugh track. "Don't patronize me!"
-"'Don't be a zero, be a good guy!' It seems like a missed opportunity..."
-"If a patient's friend runs into the operating room and yells at you, you have to stop. It's in the doctor code."
-"Tracy Jr. made you an acrostic." "Well I hope he made me an across helmet so I don't get hurt playing across."
-Al Gore is magic. And he recycles his "a whale is in trouble" joke.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Jordan's Review: Community, Season 1, Episode 10: Environmental Science
There is no questioning it. Community has left that gray area in which a television show, when first starting out, stumbles and makes the occasionally mistake. This show has figured out what its about, where its going, and how the characters will need to behave to get them there. “Environmental Science” is an episode structured like many others—in which Jeff starts the episode behaving selfishly and slowly moves towards selflessness and altruism by episode’s end. This could be annoying or predictable at this point, but man does Community still know how to make it work. In other news, Senor Chang got his first real episode tonight, deepening him as the other characters have slowly come into focus over the last ten weeks.
Senor Change assigns the entire class a paper (which is first one, then two, then six, then twenty pages) that no one will be able to do. The gang thinks Jeff should talk him out of it. Jeff, as unwilling as ever to lift a finger or help anyone else, successfully convinces the gang he’s unconvincing, which unfortunately for him just convinces them that he is in fact convincing. Jeff then goes reluctantly to talk to Senor Chang, where he uses his lawyer powers to discern that Chang’s wife left him (from a repeated shirt, him teaching them the word for liar, and the speech bubble over his wife’s mouth that says “enjoy it while it lasts”) and then agrees to hang out with the professor, only to decline because he has the essay. The tactic works, for Jeff, and his essay gets cancelled. Jeff begins to use his friendship with Senor Cheng to his own advantage, until the group finds out. They’re reactions, done one after another in ensemble, are a priceless example of how well this show is working: “You devious clump of overpriced fabric and hair product!” “Speaking as one of the meek, as soon as I inherit the earth, you a dead man!” “You have a weird forehead!” “We are all very disappointed in you.” “ Alright, dial it back a little Britta.” In quick succession, each character muttered a hilarious line that totally fits with their character, and quickly advances the plot. The show has become leaner in the last few weeks, whittling its story down to the essentials: laughs and emotions.
In the B-plot, Troy and Abed have to train a rat to respond to music. Abed has picked the song “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail and, likewise, named their rat Fievel. Troy, meanwhile is afraid of rats (or, as he quips, “I’m not afraid Abed. I choose not to be next to rats because they’re unpopular. Same goes for centipedes and lakes!”). Troy must face his fears, however ,after his terrified reaction to a rat near him leads to Fievel’s escape.
The C-plot revolves around Shirley’s presentation for her marketing class, which terrifies her so much, she agrees to let Pierce help her. Pierce may not be good at almost anything, but he is a good public speaker, and he teaches Shirley not to lock her knees (or she’ll die), to give hand motions, and to wake up the audience with buzz words.
It was not just that all three story lines managed to mine sitcom cliché and find as yet undiscovered gold the was impressive about this episode. There were some excellent meta moments (like when Pierce, in sitcom cliché mode, sat in Jeff’s chair and tried to assume his role. Abed pointed out the joke, and no one was taken in, but as soon as Abed left, they all immediately started treating Pierce like Jeff, just as they would on a sitcom), funny moments from every character in the cast (even Star burns got a cameo), and, a very funny running plot about Greendale’s efforts to celebrate “Green Week” by changing its already workable name into “Envirodale” and hiring (apparently Celtic folk group) Green Daye to perform at the concert. Community has come a long way these first ten weeks, but it has arrived at a place where it is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows each week.
Grade: A
Notes:
-“Well guess what, handsome hobo. You’re gravy train is leaving the station.” “Ignore what she’s doing, we are serious!”
-“This better not awaken anything in me.”
-I like the weird interaction when Abed bursts into Chang’s office, and Jeff thinks hes found out. “Is there a rat in here?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Abed.” “Le tigre.”
-“I believe that fusing brownies with the internet is going to create the next Napster for brownies.”
-Britta, not Annie, is looking at Jeff during the amazing (and surprisingly funny) “Somewhere Out There” montage from the end, during the line “love will see us through.” Damn it, Community, how you toy with my emotions! Plus, Jeff and Britta dance together at the end.
-Another great meta gag when the gang showed up to explain away the resolution of their storylines all at once and then just dance.
-Great blip. “Pierce, I hope that’s the tiny gun that you throw at us to confuse us while you grab the real gun that’s strapped to your back!” Pierce then shoots them with pepper water in the eyes.
Senor Change assigns the entire class a paper (which is first one, then two, then six, then twenty pages) that no one will be able to do. The gang thinks Jeff should talk him out of it. Jeff, as unwilling as ever to lift a finger or help anyone else, successfully convinces the gang he’s unconvincing, which unfortunately for him just convinces them that he is in fact convincing. Jeff then goes reluctantly to talk to Senor Chang, where he uses his lawyer powers to discern that Chang’s wife left him (from a repeated shirt, him teaching them the word for liar, and the speech bubble over his wife’s mouth that says “enjoy it while it lasts”) and then agrees to hang out with the professor, only to decline because he has the essay. The tactic works, for Jeff, and his essay gets cancelled. Jeff begins to use his friendship with Senor Cheng to his own advantage, until the group finds out. They’re reactions, done one after another in ensemble, are a priceless example of how well this show is working: “You devious clump of overpriced fabric and hair product!” “Speaking as one of the meek, as soon as I inherit the earth, you a dead man!” “You have a weird forehead!” “We are all very disappointed in you.” “ Alright, dial it back a little Britta.” In quick succession, each character muttered a hilarious line that totally fits with their character, and quickly advances the plot. The show has become leaner in the last few weeks, whittling its story down to the essentials: laughs and emotions.
In the B-plot, Troy and Abed have to train a rat to respond to music. Abed has picked the song “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail and, likewise, named their rat Fievel. Troy, meanwhile is afraid of rats (or, as he quips, “I’m not afraid Abed. I choose not to be next to rats because they’re unpopular. Same goes for centipedes and lakes!”). Troy must face his fears, however ,after his terrified reaction to a rat near him leads to Fievel’s escape.
The C-plot revolves around Shirley’s presentation for her marketing class, which terrifies her so much, she agrees to let Pierce help her. Pierce may not be good at almost anything, but he is a good public speaker, and he teaches Shirley not to lock her knees (or she’ll die), to give hand motions, and to wake up the audience with buzz words.
It was not just that all three story lines managed to mine sitcom cliché and find as yet undiscovered gold the was impressive about this episode. There were some excellent meta moments (like when Pierce, in sitcom cliché mode, sat in Jeff’s chair and tried to assume his role. Abed pointed out the joke, and no one was taken in, but as soon as Abed left, they all immediately started treating Pierce like Jeff, just as they would on a sitcom), funny moments from every character in the cast (even Star burns got a cameo), and, a very funny running plot about Greendale’s efforts to celebrate “Green Week” by changing its already workable name into “Envirodale” and hiring (apparently Celtic folk group) Green Daye to perform at the concert. Community has come a long way these first ten weeks, but it has arrived at a place where it is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows each week.
Grade: A
Notes:
-“Well guess what, handsome hobo. You’re gravy train is leaving the station.” “Ignore what she’s doing, we are serious!”
-“This better not awaken anything in me.”
-I like the weird interaction when Abed bursts into Chang’s office, and Jeff thinks hes found out. “Is there a rat in here?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Abed.” “Le tigre.”
-“I believe that fusing brownies with the internet is going to create the next Napster for brownies.”
-Britta, not Annie, is looking at Jeff during the amazing (and surprisingly funny) “Somewhere Out There” montage from the end, during the line “love will see us through.” Damn it, Community, how you toy with my emotions! Plus, Jeff and Britta dance together at the end.
-Another great meta gag when the gang showed up to explain away the resolution of their storylines all at once and then just dance.
-Great blip. “Pierce, I hope that’s the tiny gun that you throw at us to confuse us while you grab the real gun that’s strapped to your back!” Pierce then shoots them with pepper water in the eyes.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Jordan's Review: Glee, Season 1, Episode 10: Ballad
Glee established itself from before its existence as a musical. Which means many things, one of which is that when I’m feeling magnanimous, I tend to write off its cheesier moments and more unlikely dialogue as par for the course. I have seen a decent amount of musicals in my day, and many of them are filled to the brim with cheese and overwrought encounters. “Ballad” was an episode that used its musical numbers, as musicals often do and as this show has done more sparingly, to look deeper into its characters and explore what is driving them currently. It also advanced the little master-plot that we have at this point, and even had some laughs along the way.
The show seemed to comment on the intent of this episode as Kurt repeatedly reminded Finn, and with him the audience, that characters in a musical often sing when their emotions get too big to be said regularly. That was the case for most of our major characters tonight. From the outset, Rachel discovered feelings for Mr. Shue as they did a duet to “Endless Love.” At first I thought this storyline would be another example of a plotline that angered me to no end and came out of nowhere, but it was handled very believably. Rachel has low self confidence and doesn’t believe in her own worth, so she develops feelings for someone that is sure to reject her which will reaffirm her own self-loathing. This was pointed out by Suzie Pepper, who used to have a crush on Will herself, and then went into a tailspin after his rejection, eating one of the hottest peppers in the world and being put into a medically induced coma for three days. Fortunately her two years of intensive psychotherapy and an esophagus transplant taught her the error of her incredibly creepy ways.
While Rachel deals with her newfound love and what it means for her, Will grapples with her feelings in his own way: by mashing up two songs, including the Police classic “Don’t stand so close to me. Unfortunately, Rachel understands this as, “I’m very young, and it’s hard for you to stand close to me.” Emma, who was there to back Will up, is so swept up by his performance she forgets her role in the whole thing. And, because I would be remiss if I didn’t curse this plotline whenever it reared its ugly, stupid head, Will’s wife showed up and refused to show her husband her not-pregnant stomach. Terri actually got a few great one liners in, but I am hoping Will discovers her deception and drops her sooner rather than later.
The other big plotline tonight centered around Finn deciding to tell Quinn’s parents she is pregnant, through an on the nose song called “You’re having my baby.” Quinn’s parents, being Glenn Beck watching monstrosity’s of conservative repression, kicked Quinn out and she was forced to move in with Finn. This whole plotline was a little rote, but it was handled well by the actors, and at least moved a storyline forward in a more permanent way. The far more interesting portion of this story went (as storylines often do) to Kurt, whose secret love for Finn hit home more realistically and emotionally than anything else in the episode. Perhaps it is Chris Colfer’s softly expressive face, but he gets all of Kurt’s triumphs and defeats across as we watch him suffer silently through a love that cannot possibly happen. Maybe it was just me, but I would have greatly preferred watching Kurt sing to Finn than watching the whole club sing the incredibly predictable “Lean on Me.” This episode left me wishing Finn would suddenly discover he was gay, just so he and Kurt could be together.
All in all, the episode used its music well to explore the goings on beneath the surface of characters who to this point have often been far too shallow. I wish the show had used this opportunity to give us ballads from some of the under seen or under used characters as a means of deepening them, but what we got came across quite well.
Grade: B+
Notes:
-Music Round up: I thought “Endless Love” came across well, and I especially liked the touch of having the club wave their cell phones around during it. Finn’s version of “I’ll Stand By You” was awesome, even if he was singing to a fetus. Matthew Morrison rocked his mash up. I wish the show would choose slightly less on-the-nose music sometimes, but I am in the camp believing that “Lean on Me” is a cliché largely because it’s so effective.
-“You knew it was me just by the sound of my breathing. How romantic!” God I hope Suzie Pepper comes back.
-“Listen, this is Will’s wife. If I don’t get enough sleep my antidepressants won’t work and I’ll go crazy and kill you.”
-“You can’t threaten me Pepper! I’m not afraid of you!”
-Good God, how many songs are these kids expected to perform at sectionals? They’re preparing a new one every week, and it’s always just a few weeks away. Unless the back half of this season is taken up by sectionals, I think they may have a few too many numbers prepared.
The show seemed to comment on the intent of this episode as Kurt repeatedly reminded Finn, and with him the audience, that characters in a musical often sing when their emotions get too big to be said regularly. That was the case for most of our major characters tonight. From the outset, Rachel discovered feelings for Mr. Shue as they did a duet to “Endless Love.” At first I thought this storyline would be another example of a plotline that angered me to no end and came out of nowhere, but it was handled very believably. Rachel has low self confidence and doesn’t believe in her own worth, so she develops feelings for someone that is sure to reject her which will reaffirm her own self-loathing. This was pointed out by Suzie Pepper, who used to have a crush on Will herself, and then went into a tailspin after his rejection, eating one of the hottest peppers in the world and being put into a medically induced coma for three days. Fortunately her two years of intensive psychotherapy and an esophagus transplant taught her the error of her incredibly creepy ways.
While Rachel deals with her newfound love and what it means for her, Will grapples with her feelings in his own way: by mashing up two songs, including the Police classic “Don’t stand so close to me. Unfortunately, Rachel understands this as, “I’m very young, and it’s hard for you to stand close to me.” Emma, who was there to back Will up, is so swept up by his performance she forgets her role in the whole thing. And, because I would be remiss if I didn’t curse this plotline whenever it reared its ugly, stupid head, Will’s wife showed up and refused to show her husband her not-pregnant stomach. Terri actually got a few great one liners in, but I am hoping Will discovers her deception and drops her sooner rather than later.
The other big plotline tonight centered around Finn deciding to tell Quinn’s parents she is pregnant, through an on the nose song called “You’re having my baby.” Quinn’s parents, being Glenn Beck watching monstrosity’s of conservative repression, kicked Quinn out and she was forced to move in with Finn. This whole plotline was a little rote, but it was handled well by the actors, and at least moved a storyline forward in a more permanent way. The far more interesting portion of this story went (as storylines often do) to Kurt, whose secret love for Finn hit home more realistically and emotionally than anything else in the episode. Perhaps it is Chris Colfer’s softly expressive face, but he gets all of Kurt’s triumphs and defeats across as we watch him suffer silently through a love that cannot possibly happen. Maybe it was just me, but I would have greatly preferred watching Kurt sing to Finn than watching the whole club sing the incredibly predictable “Lean on Me.” This episode left me wishing Finn would suddenly discover he was gay, just so he and Kurt could be together.
All in all, the episode used its music well to explore the goings on beneath the surface of characters who to this point have often been far too shallow. I wish the show had used this opportunity to give us ballads from some of the under seen or under used characters as a means of deepening them, but what we got came across quite well.
Grade: B+
Notes:
-Music Round up: I thought “Endless Love” came across well, and I especially liked the touch of having the club wave their cell phones around during it. Finn’s version of “I’ll Stand By You” was awesome, even if he was singing to a fetus. Matthew Morrison rocked his mash up. I wish the show would choose slightly less on-the-nose music sometimes, but I am in the camp believing that “Lean on Me” is a cliché largely because it’s so effective.
-“You knew it was me just by the sound of my breathing. How romantic!” God I hope Suzie Pepper comes back.
-“Listen, this is Will’s wife. If I don’t get enough sleep my antidepressants won’t work and I’ll go crazy and kill you.”
-“You can’t threaten me Pepper! I’m not afraid of you!”
-Good God, how many songs are these kids expected to perform at sectionals? They’re preparing a new one every week, and it’s always just a few weeks away. Unless the back half of this season is taken up by sectionals, I think they may have a few too many numbers prepared.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Jordan's Review: How I Met your Mother, Season 5, Episode 8: The Playbook
After slinking through the first several episodes of its season depending almost solely on Barney and Robin, tonight’s episode, which is basically about Barney and Robin, managed to unwittingly display why the first part of the season has failed so miserably, and yet also be one of the more solid episodes of Season Five so far. While I am a huge fan of Barney and Robin together, it is impossible for them to get together without each settling down a bit, which will hurt the awesome. I think the writers learned this lesson the hard way, and so those of us pulling for Barney and Robin may have to wait until the end of the series to see it (if we see it at all. This Don character sounds like he may be a big player in what happens to Robin over the next few seasons).
Barney, back on the market, decides to run the gamut on his classic and complicated “get women into bed” schemes by relying on “The Playbook.” This comprehensive list of all of his tricks will allow him to get over his break up with Robin and resume his awesome ways. While I am a bit saddened to watch Barney take major steps backward in terms of personal development, I have to admit I’m glad to have the old freewheeling woman-eater back. It seems you can’t cage Barney (at least not yet), and so the writers letting him out of the Robin cage seems like a good move for the coming episodes.
On the Robin front, she has decided to focus only on herself and her career for the time being, which, as Ted and Marshall point out, is what people always say right before they meet the love of their lives. Robin dismisses this, but the two are insistent, and at episode’s end we meet Don, Robin’s new co-anchor. Whether Robin will marry Don, as Ted and Marshall think, or whether she will just fall hard for him, it seems we’ll be spending some time with Don over the coming weeks (and, if a marriage is in the cards, a lot longer than that). Combing through my sadly almost encyclopedic knowledge of the things we know about Robin in the future, we very clearly do not know if she is married or ever has been. We also do not know if she is in a relationship in 2030. The only future character shrouded in more mystery is Barney, whom we know literally nothing about in the future.
The contrast between Barney and Robin tonight was clear and, I hope, intentional. Barney continues to score by pretending to be other people, but Robin has found someone by just being herself. Perhaps Don will teach Robin the keys to a successful relationship, while Barney will learn how to stay awesome in one over the next few seasons. Or perhaps Robin has just met the man she will spend the rest of her life with.
After an opening that made me hopeful we were finally getting a Ted episode, he was relegated to the background again, though at least he and Marshall had some great lines throughout the night. The show may not have re-grabbed the master plot like it needs to, but “The Playbook” did play with the narrative in the way the best episodes do. It was obvious to any long time viewer pretty early on that Barney’s “The Scuba Diver” was just his most elaborate play, revealing the playbook, bagging Lily’s friend, getting the gang to trash him then playing the insecurity card all to get into the pants of one girl. But this sort of narrative complexity and clever turns are exactly what How I Met Your Mother has been missing all season, and it’s good to see they haven’t entirely forgotten what made the show great in the first place.
Grade: B
Notes:
-Barney’s plays are as follows:
· The Don’t Drink That
· The Mrs. Stinsfire (which continues the tradition that characters on a sitcom blatantly mocking Mrs. Doubtfire is hysterical)
· The Lorenzo von Matterhorn
· The SNASA (Barney works for “Secret NASA” which goes to the “Secret Moon.”)
· The Cheap Trick (actually very expensive)
· The He’s Not Coming (the optimist buried deep inside of me shudders to think that one of those guys did show up after Barney bagged his girl).
· The Ted Mosby (wear flannel and claim you were left at the alter)
· The My Penis Grants Wishes
-Marshall had some great moments tonight, like awkwardly calling Barney Steven King because he’d written another book, and asking for frozen waffles after an extended metaphor about how they were Robin’s dream man.
-“When you pick up the newspaper, be sure to check the wedding announcements…for yours!”
-Barney thinks Al Qaeda stole The Playbook.
-“An actress. Of course! That explains her impeccable diction, and her sluttiness.”
Barney, back on the market, decides to run the gamut on his classic and complicated “get women into bed” schemes by relying on “The Playbook.” This comprehensive list of all of his tricks will allow him to get over his break up with Robin and resume his awesome ways. While I am a bit saddened to watch Barney take major steps backward in terms of personal development, I have to admit I’m glad to have the old freewheeling woman-eater back. It seems you can’t cage Barney (at least not yet), and so the writers letting him out of the Robin cage seems like a good move for the coming episodes.
On the Robin front, she has decided to focus only on herself and her career for the time being, which, as Ted and Marshall point out, is what people always say right before they meet the love of their lives. Robin dismisses this, but the two are insistent, and at episode’s end we meet Don, Robin’s new co-anchor. Whether Robin will marry Don, as Ted and Marshall think, or whether she will just fall hard for him, it seems we’ll be spending some time with Don over the coming weeks (and, if a marriage is in the cards, a lot longer than that). Combing through my sadly almost encyclopedic knowledge of the things we know about Robin in the future, we very clearly do not know if she is married or ever has been. We also do not know if she is in a relationship in 2030. The only future character shrouded in more mystery is Barney, whom we know literally nothing about in the future.
The contrast between Barney and Robin tonight was clear and, I hope, intentional. Barney continues to score by pretending to be other people, but Robin has found someone by just being herself. Perhaps Don will teach Robin the keys to a successful relationship, while Barney will learn how to stay awesome in one over the next few seasons. Or perhaps Robin has just met the man she will spend the rest of her life with.
After an opening that made me hopeful we were finally getting a Ted episode, he was relegated to the background again, though at least he and Marshall had some great lines throughout the night. The show may not have re-grabbed the master plot like it needs to, but “The Playbook” did play with the narrative in the way the best episodes do. It was obvious to any long time viewer pretty early on that Barney’s “The Scuba Diver” was just his most elaborate play, revealing the playbook, bagging Lily’s friend, getting the gang to trash him then playing the insecurity card all to get into the pants of one girl. But this sort of narrative complexity and clever turns are exactly what How I Met Your Mother has been missing all season, and it’s good to see they haven’t entirely forgotten what made the show great in the first place.
Grade: B
Notes:
-Barney’s plays are as follows:
· The Don’t Drink That
· The Mrs. Stinsfire (which continues the tradition that characters on a sitcom blatantly mocking Mrs. Doubtfire is hysterical)
· The Lorenzo von Matterhorn
· The SNASA (Barney works for “Secret NASA” which goes to the “Secret Moon.”)
· The Cheap Trick (actually very expensive)
· The He’s Not Coming (the optimist buried deep inside of me shudders to think that one of those guys did show up after Barney bagged his girl).
· The Ted Mosby (wear flannel and claim you were left at the alter)
· The My Penis Grants Wishes
-Marshall had some great moments tonight, like awkwardly calling Barney Steven King because he’d written another book, and asking for frozen waffles after an extended metaphor about how they were Robin’s dream man.
-“When you pick up the newspaper, be sure to check the wedding announcements…for yours!”
-Barney thinks Al Qaeda stole The Playbook.
-“An actress. Of course! That explains her impeccable diction, and her sluttiness.”
Jordan's Review: Dexter, Season 4, Episode 8: Road Kill
“Road Kill” provided an excellent opportunity for us to examine Arthur and Dexter, both individually and in the way they interact. When Dexter discovers that Arthur is heading to a build in Tampa, he fears that the cycle of murder is about to begin again, and so forces himself along so that he can kill Arthur before Arthur can kill anyone else. What follows gives us a bit more insight into Arthur, and into Dexter, but it also comes across mostly as another placeholder episode in a season full of them (last week’s episode, which I unfortunately missed reviewing, was arguably the most egregious offender in this category).
We learn that Arthur inadvertently caused his sister’s death, when she saw him watching her in the shower, got startled, and fell, shattering the glass and cutting her own leg. Her death lead to his mother’s suicide and left him with an abusive and alcoholic father whom he most likely killed. Thus, Trinity’s cycle was created. As Arthur shares all this with Dexter, he seems insanely desperate. He unburdens his dark secret and with it he seems to loosen his tenuous grip on sanity. As long as he has remained driven by his endless cycle, he has managed to seem sane, but when he thinks his life is over (as he plans to kill himself) he frees himself from his act and allows the maniac inside to come out and play. This results in him bursting into his childhood home, commandeering a family’s lunch and finally in his attempted suicide. But by episode’s end he has lost his death wish and found his cause all over again, putting him back on the path to Dexter’s table.
On the Dexter front we discover that he feels remorse for killing an innocent man, which moves him closer to aligning with the rest of the human race. This is exactly the opposite of where I want Dexter to go as a series, but it seems he is becoming more and more human as the show continues. Perhaps his reluctance to kill Trinity is a symptom of that, or possibly it comes from his desire to keep the monster in each of them alive against the crushing tension of societal assimilation. Looking at how the show has gone this season, my bets are on the former.
In the round up of irrelevant and boring plotlines this episode, Angel and LaGuerta are banging again, and the reporter is still digging for a story (what else do reporters do, after all?). And while Deb has been the most interesting plotline other than Dexter’s this season (As usual) the idea of someone else shooting her is kind of expected, and pretty annoying. Every suspect other than Trinity is a pretty big stretch. So who shot Lundy? Is it the reporter? She does need a story pretty badly, but that making her a murderer seems like the dumbest plot twist ever. Was it Quinn? He does like to steal money from crime scenes but how in God’s name would that lead to him shooting Deb? Whoever it was, I feel like it’s going to be a pretty large leap to buy their motivations, and, more importantly, to make me care.
Grade: B-
Notes:
-“I really do need something to stab.” –Dexter, after talking to Quinn.
-I like the joke that no one gets Dexter’s science.
-“I’ve almost banged so much tail at those geekfests…”Poor, deluded Masuka.
-Apologies again for missing last week. time got the better of me.
We learn that Arthur inadvertently caused his sister’s death, when she saw him watching her in the shower, got startled, and fell, shattering the glass and cutting her own leg. Her death lead to his mother’s suicide and left him with an abusive and alcoholic father whom he most likely killed. Thus, Trinity’s cycle was created. As Arthur shares all this with Dexter, he seems insanely desperate. He unburdens his dark secret and with it he seems to loosen his tenuous grip on sanity. As long as he has remained driven by his endless cycle, he has managed to seem sane, but when he thinks his life is over (as he plans to kill himself) he frees himself from his act and allows the maniac inside to come out and play. This results in him bursting into his childhood home, commandeering a family’s lunch and finally in his attempted suicide. But by episode’s end he has lost his death wish and found his cause all over again, putting him back on the path to Dexter’s table.
On the Dexter front we discover that he feels remorse for killing an innocent man, which moves him closer to aligning with the rest of the human race. This is exactly the opposite of where I want Dexter to go as a series, but it seems he is becoming more and more human as the show continues. Perhaps his reluctance to kill Trinity is a symptom of that, or possibly it comes from his desire to keep the monster in each of them alive against the crushing tension of societal assimilation. Looking at how the show has gone this season, my bets are on the former.
In the round up of irrelevant and boring plotlines this episode, Angel and LaGuerta are banging again, and the reporter is still digging for a story (what else do reporters do, after all?). And while Deb has been the most interesting plotline other than Dexter’s this season (As usual) the idea of someone else shooting her is kind of expected, and pretty annoying. Every suspect other than Trinity is a pretty big stretch. So who shot Lundy? Is it the reporter? She does need a story pretty badly, but that making her a murderer seems like the dumbest plot twist ever. Was it Quinn? He does like to steal money from crime scenes but how in God’s name would that lead to him shooting Deb? Whoever it was, I feel like it’s going to be a pretty large leap to buy their motivations, and, more importantly, to make me care.
Grade: B-
Notes:
-“I really do need something to stab.” –Dexter, after talking to Quinn.
-I like the joke that no one gets Dexter’s science.
-“I’ve almost banged so much tail at those geekfests…”Poor, deluded Masuka.
-Apologies again for missing last week. time got the better of me.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Feature: Jordan's Movie Quest: The Year 2005
As we draw closer to the end of the decade, I too draw nearer to the completion of my “Top Ten of the Decade” list. In furtherance of that goal, here are my favorites from 2005, with a short discussion of each:
10. Cachè-Director Michael Haneke (Funny Games) keeps the tension on a constant boil in his story of a married couple (Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche) who are terrorized by a series of videotapes taken of the front of their house. While the idea is a bit derivative of David Lynch’s Lost Highway, Haneke turns his thriller into a thoughtful examination of the lasting effects of discrimination, an allegory for the French-Algerian conflict, and a look inside a slowly crumbling marriage and the vulnerability that drives its partners. Technically brilliant, quietly meditative, and edge-of-your-seat tense, Cachè will leave you uneasy, especially once its final moments process.
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-Much controversy was made of Tim Burton remaking the beloved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but Burton stuck close to the original novel by Roald Dahl, and provided something wholly different. Darker, more visually stunning, and downright weirder, this take features Freddie Highmore as Charlie, a poverty stricken boy who lucks into a golden ticket, and with it a guided tour of the world’s greatest chocolate factory. Along the way he meets Willy Wonka (a tour de force by Johnny Depp, who has no trouble plundering the depth of eccentricity), an army of Oompa Loompa’s (played by Deep Roy, but voiced by Danny Elfman, whose lyrics were lifted directly from the book), and some of the world’s vainest, dumbest, and most spoiled children. Burton creates a fully inhabited world as only he can, and the manic set pieces, off-kilter performances, and fable-like nature of the story all fit perfectly into it.
8. Batman Begins-It had been several years since the Batman franchise was effectively driven into the ground by Joel “Give Him Nipples” Schumacher, Christopher Nolan emerged with his vision of the bat. Telling the story of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and his transformation into The Dark Knight, the movie follows the vigilante from the mountains of Tibet back to the slums of Gotham City. After being trained by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) and the League of Shadows, Bruce abandons them for their ruthlessness, and returns to fight the corruption rotting his city, specifically Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson, who has fun filling in the broadly menacing role). With the help of his childhood sweetheart Rachel (Katie Holmes), his loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Waynetech scientist Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and the one cop in town beyond corruption (Gary Oldman), Bruce begins to realize the good he can do as Batman. Featuring a stellar performance by Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow, the film is dark, brooding, moody, and thoughtful like no other Batman movie before, and shows that the superhero movie can be for thinkers as well.
7. Sin City-In the noir-ish night’s of Basin City, everyone is looking for something. Be it redemption, money, or a pedophile whose been died yellow, each character has deep seated wants that drive their bleak, brooding, often violent trajectories through the blood stained and rain soaked night. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film oozes stylistic intent. Shot in color, then sapped into black and white, only to be re-infused with blasts of color when something is significant, the film feels like a moving comic strip, and is drenched in the pitch black humor and bleak nihilism of Frank Miller’s original work. The movie follows three stories through the night—Marv (an excellent Mickey Rourke) wants to know who killed the only woman to ever show him affection, Dwight (Clive Owen) who tries to protect one girlfriend (Brittany Murphy) and ends up in the arms of another (Rosario Dawson), and Hartigan (Bruce Willis) who tries his best to keep a little girl, and later, the stripper she becomes (Jessica Alba) out of the clutches of a murdering rapist (Nick Stahl). Dark, brutally violent, heartbreaking, and occasionally very funny, Sin City is a stylized masterpiece of neo-noir.
6. Shop Girl-Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is bored with her empty life selling gloves at a high end department store. That is, until her well ordered life is disrupted by the appearance of two very different suitors—Ray (Steve Martin) is suave, sweet, rich, and older. Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) is immature, awkward, and broke. It’s no surprise, then, when Mirabelle embarks on an affair with Ray. He hopes to keep her at arms distance as a temporary fling, but she is convinced she has met the man of her dreams. As the two dance around their varying expectations, a true connection is formed. Meanwhile, Jeremy embarks on a quest of self-discovery as a roadie, with his mind always on how to win Mirabelle when he returns. When depression strikes, Mirabelle comes to depend even more heavily on Ray, but his apprehension leaves her wondering whether she is better off getting her heart broken earlier or later. Adapted from Steve Martin’s novella, the film is often funny and sweetly sad in its exploration of what motivates romantic entanglements, the dangers of differing expectations, and the wisdom that comes from having your heart broken.
5. Broken Flowers-Don Johnston (Bill Murray, laconic and morose as ever) is a lifelong bachelor and a lover of women. When his newest girlfriend (Julie Delpy) leaves him and he gets an anonymous note from an ex telling him that he has a son, his best friend Winston (Jeffrey Wright) convinces him to visit each of the women who could have fathered his son. As Don sees each of his former lovers (played by Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton) he is reminded of what drew him to each of them, and gets a glimpse at the chasm that now divides him from those he was once so close to. Jim Jarmusch builds the film slowly into a thoughtful meditation on mortality, love, the passage of time, and the frailty of human connections.
4. Serenity-After the heartbreaking cancellation of Joss Whedon’s masterpiece-to-be Firefly, the rabid fans were left wanting more. And, after pushing for a long time, they got it. Time has passed since we last saw Captain Malcolm Reynolds (the always charming Nathan Fillion), but the main conflicts in his life are still much the same. Since taking aboard a fugitive doctor (Sean Maher) and his sister (Summer Glau), a mentally damaged psychic turned into a weapon by the corrupt government, nothing but trouble has followed the already unlucky crew of the spaceship Serenity. Yet things get exponentially worse when they begin being taunted out of hiding by The Operative (a chilly Chiwetel Ejiofor), a government agent willing to kill thousands to get his hands on his quarry. The crew scrambles desperately for their own lives and for a better understanding of the motivations of those among them and those forces arrayed against them. Equal parts sci-fi action epic, and ethically dense morality play, Serenity combines Whedon’s penchant for witty one-liners and an existential scope that spans galaxies into a hilarious, heartbreaking rollercoaster ride that examines the nature of social contracts, the mentality of Confederate sympathizers after the Civil War, and the bonds that tie us together into unlikely families as forces much larger attempt to tear us apart.
3. Brokeback Mountain-Known to most simply as “the gay cowboy movie,” Brokeback Mountain is often overlooked for its moving look at a doomed love. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger, in an Oscar nominated performance of startling subtlety and depth) is your standard stoic cowboy. Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal, who got a supporting actor nomination) is a rodeo rider looking to have a good time. When the two take jobs as herders on the slopes of the titular mountain for a summer, they find a connection that both confuses and enthuses them. They depart to lad separate lives—Ennis to marry his longtime sweetheart Alma (Michelel Williams) and Jack to fall in love with a rich rodeo girl (Anne Hathaway) but the two reunite whenever possible for “fishing trips” when they can just be their true selves. As Alma discovers her husband’s secret, Ennis is driven further and further into a repressive seclusion, and Jack is tormented by his love for a man who cannot let himself return it. Watching Ennis in all his inarticulate torment as he grapples with shame, self-hatred, and unstoppable desire, the film shows us a portrait of the tragic possibilities of repression.
2. Good Night and Good Luck-The story of Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and his battle against Joseph McCarthy, Good Night and Good Luck throws us into a world torn apart by fear and suspicion, where most people are willing to abandon their principles to ensure their careers. At its center are Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) who refuse to cease their exploration of the truth and their stand behind their principles, even in the face of a political machine that is willing to tear them apart. With stellar supporting turns from Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, and Ray Wise, the film examines one man’s bravery and thestrength of character it takes to stand by your beliefs no matter what it costs you.
1. The 40 Year Old Virgin-For decades the “sex comedy” has turned out turgid examinations of the male psyche and its apparent obsession with just one thing. The 40 Year Old Virgin (the directorial debut of Judd Apatow) could easily have stayed the course with standard raunchy jokes and disgusting occurrences (and the film has plenty of both), yet it also added heart. Any (Steve Carrell) has been so unlucky in love that he has given up entirely. All of that changes when his coworkers (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Romany Malco) set out to get him some, and when he meets Trish (Catherine Keener, her full versatility on display), a grandmother who sells other things on e-bay professionally and who may just be the woman of his dreams. Carrell imbues Andy with serious amounts of pathos as he struggles with his insecurities, his past heartbreak, and (it is a sex comedy after all) his unwillingness to masturbate, and it is this heart that brings the movie its emotional depth. Raunchy, hilarious, adorable, and heartwarming, The 40 Year Old Virgin displays the fully realized potential of an attempt to combine the romantic comedy and the sex comedy, and to look at the depths that exist beneath two genres that are all too often confined strictly to the surface.
10. Cachè-Director Michael Haneke (Funny Games) keeps the tension on a constant boil in his story of a married couple (Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche) who are terrorized by a series of videotapes taken of the front of their house. While the idea is a bit derivative of David Lynch’s Lost Highway, Haneke turns his thriller into a thoughtful examination of the lasting effects of discrimination, an allegory for the French-Algerian conflict, and a look inside a slowly crumbling marriage and the vulnerability that drives its partners. Technically brilliant, quietly meditative, and edge-of-your-seat tense, Cachè will leave you uneasy, especially once its final moments process.
9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-Much controversy was made of Tim Burton remaking the beloved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but Burton stuck close to the original novel by Roald Dahl, and provided something wholly different. Darker, more visually stunning, and downright weirder, this take features Freddie Highmore as Charlie, a poverty stricken boy who lucks into a golden ticket, and with it a guided tour of the world’s greatest chocolate factory. Along the way he meets Willy Wonka (a tour de force by Johnny Depp, who has no trouble plundering the depth of eccentricity), an army of Oompa Loompa’s (played by Deep Roy, but voiced by Danny Elfman, whose lyrics were lifted directly from the book), and some of the world’s vainest, dumbest, and most spoiled children. Burton creates a fully inhabited world as only he can, and the manic set pieces, off-kilter performances, and fable-like nature of the story all fit perfectly into it.
8. Batman Begins-It had been several years since the Batman franchise was effectively driven into the ground by Joel “Give Him Nipples” Schumacher, Christopher Nolan emerged with his vision of the bat. Telling the story of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and his transformation into The Dark Knight, the movie follows the vigilante from the mountains of Tibet back to the slums of Gotham City. After being trained by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) and the League of Shadows, Bruce abandons them for their ruthlessness, and returns to fight the corruption rotting his city, specifically Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson, who has fun filling in the broadly menacing role). With the help of his childhood sweetheart Rachel (Katie Holmes), his loyal butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Waynetech scientist Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and the one cop in town beyond corruption (Gary Oldman), Bruce begins to realize the good he can do as Batman. Featuring a stellar performance by Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow, the film is dark, brooding, moody, and thoughtful like no other Batman movie before, and shows that the superhero movie can be for thinkers as well.
7. Sin City-In the noir-ish night’s of Basin City, everyone is looking for something. Be it redemption, money, or a pedophile whose been died yellow, each character has deep seated wants that drive their bleak, brooding, often violent trajectories through the blood stained and rain soaked night. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film oozes stylistic intent. Shot in color, then sapped into black and white, only to be re-infused with blasts of color when something is significant, the film feels like a moving comic strip, and is drenched in the pitch black humor and bleak nihilism of Frank Miller’s original work. The movie follows three stories through the night—Marv (an excellent Mickey Rourke) wants to know who killed the only woman to ever show him affection, Dwight (Clive Owen) who tries to protect one girlfriend (Brittany Murphy) and ends up in the arms of another (Rosario Dawson), and Hartigan (Bruce Willis) who tries his best to keep a little girl, and later, the stripper she becomes (Jessica Alba) out of the clutches of a murdering rapist (Nick Stahl). Dark, brutally violent, heartbreaking, and occasionally very funny, Sin City is a stylized masterpiece of neo-noir.
6. Shop Girl-Mirabelle (Claire Danes) is bored with her empty life selling gloves at a high end department store. That is, until her well ordered life is disrupted by the appearance of two very different suitors—Ray (Steve Martin) is suave, sweet, rich, and older. Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) is immature, awkward, and broke. It’s no surprise, then, when Mirabelle embarks on an affair with Ray. He hopes to keep her at arms distance as a temporary fling, but she is convinced she has met the man of her dreams. As the two dance around their varying expectations, a true connection is formed. Meanwhile, Jeremy embarks on a quest of self-discovery as a roadie, with his mind always on how to win Mirabelle when he returns. When depression strikes, Mirabelle comes to depend even more heavily on Ray, but his apprehension leaves her wondering whether she is better off getting her heart broken earlier or later. Adapted from Steve Martin’s novella, the film is often funny and sweetly sad in its exploration of what motivates romantic entanglements, the dangers of differing expectations, and the wisdom that comes from having your heart broken.
5. Broken Flowers-Don Johnston (Bill Murray, laconic and morose as ever) is a lifelong bachelor and a lover of women. When his newest girlfriend (Julie Delpy) leaves him and he gets an anonymous note from an ex telling him that he has a son, his best friend Winston (Jeffrey Wright) convinces him to visit each of the women who could have fathered his son. As Don sees each of his former lovers (played by Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton) he is reminded of what drew him to each of them, and gets a glimpse at the chasm that now divides him from those he was once so close to. Jim Jarmusch builds the film slowly into a thoughtful meditation on mortality, love, the passage of time, and the frailty of human connections.
4. Serenity-After the heartbreaking cancellation of Joss Whedon’s masterpiece-to-be Firefly, the rabid fans were left wanting more. And, after pushing for a long time, they got it. Time has passed since we last saw Captain Malcolm Reynolds (the always charming Nathan Fillion), but the main conflicts in his life are still much the same. Since taking aboard a fugitive doctor (Sean Maher) and his sister (Summer Glau), a mentally damaged psychic turned into a weapon by the corrupt government, nothing but trouble has followed the already unlucky crew of the spaceship Serenity. Yet things get exponentially worse when they begin being taunted out of hiding by The Operative (a chilly Chiwetel Ejiofor), a government agent willing to kill thousands to get his hands on his quarry. The crew scrambles desperately for their own lives and for a better understanding of the motivations of those among them and those forces arrayed against them. Equal parts sci-fi action epic, and ethically dense morality play, Serenity combines Whedon’s penchant for witty one-liners and an existential scope that spans galaxies into a hilarious, heartbreaking rollercoaster ride that examines the nature of social contracts, the mentality of Confederate sympathizers after the Civil War, and the bonds that tie us together into unlikely families as forces much larger attempt to tear us apart.
3. Brokeback Mountain-Known to most simply as “the gay cowboy movie,” Brokeback Mountain is often overlooked for its moving look at a doomed love. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger, in an Oscar nominated performance of startling subtlety and depth) is your standard stoic cowboy. Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal, who got a supporting actor nomination) is a rodeo rider looking to have a good time. When the two take jobs as herders on the slopes of the titular mountain for a summer, they find a connection that both confuses and enthuses them. They depart to lad separate lives—Ennis to marry his longtime sweetheart Alma (Michelel Williams) and Jack to fall in love with a rich rodeo girl (Anne Hathaway) but the two reunite whenever possible for “fishing trips” when they can just be their true selves. As Alma discovers her husband’s secret, Ennis is driven further and further into a repressive seclusion, and Jack is tormented by his love for a man who cannot let himself return it. Watching Ennis in all his inarticulate torment as he grapples with shame, self-hatred, and unstoppable desire, the film shows us a portrait of the tragic possibilities of repression.
2. Good Night and Good Luck-The story of Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and his battle against Joseph McCarthy, Good Night and Good Luck throws us into a world torn apart by fear and suspicion, where most people are willing to abandon their principles to ensure their careers. At its center are Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) who refuse to cease their exploration of the truth and their stand behind their principles, even in the face of a political machine that is willing to tear them apart. With stellar supporting turns from Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, and Ray Wise, the film examines one man’s bravery and thestrength of character it takes to stand by your beliefs no matter what it costs you.
1. The 40 Year Old Virgin-For decades the “sex comedy” has turned out turgid examinations of the male psyche and its apparent obsession with just one thing. The 40 Year Old Virgin (the directorial debut of Judd Apatow) could easily have stayed the course with standard raunchy jokes and disgusting occurrences (and the film has plenty of both), yet it also added heart. Any (Steve Carrell) has been so unlucky in love that he has given up entirely. All of that changes when his coworkers (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Romany Malco) set out to get him some, and when he meets Trish (Catherine Keener, her full versatility on display), a grandmother who sells other things on e-bay professionally and who may just be the woman of his dreams. Carrell imbues Andy with serious amounts of pathos as he struggles with his insecurities, his past heartbreak, and (it is a sex comedy after all) his unwillingness to masturbate, and it is this heart that brings the movie its emotional depth. Raunchy, hilarious, adorable, and heartwarming, The 40 Year Old Virgin displays the fully realized potential of an attempt to combine the romantic comedy and the sex comedy, and to look at the depths that exist beneath two genres that are all too often confined strictly to the surface.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Jordan's Review: 30 Rock, Season 4, Episode 5: The Problem Solvers
In my review last week, I said that I was not yet ready to throw in the towel and declare 30 Rock in a slump as many critics have this season, and I hoped the show would show a gallant return to form this week. My faith has been rewarded, as “The Problem Solvers” is easily the best episode so far this season, and definitely a return to the type of episode this show should be turning out on a weekly basis. Each season of 30 Rock has started out a bit shaky and then found its footing as it went along. I hope that this episode shows us the buildup is over, but only the next few weeks will let us know if we’re out of the woods and into the sun of comedic genius just yet.
The plot this week centers on Jack offering Liz her own talk show based on her hit book Dealbreakers. She at first accepts, but at the advice of Tracy and Jenna (whose plotline I’ll get to in a minute) she decides to play hardball instead, hiring an agent and exploring her options. Long time viewers should know this was a foolish step, as no one is better at business and negotiations than Jack Donaghy, but Liz set out with her agent, who had just begun catering to humans and primates after a long career of representing dogs. She managed to secure a meeting with the maverick producer of Sport-Shouting (a program where analysts simply shout their opinions at the same time). We all knew where she would end up, but the hilarious and slightly heartfelt take on romantic comedy endings as she and Jack realized they were (professionally) perfect for each other and shook hands really hit home.
After his hiring last week, the robot, revealed tonight to be a Canadian immigrant named Danny (his real name is Jack, but there aren’t allowed to be two Jack’s, so now he is Danny) who just wants to get on everybody’s nice side. This includes Kenneth, so he refuses to let the page do anything for him. Unfortunately, Tracy and Jenna, who have dubbed themselves “The Problem Solvers” of the episode’s title, see the wisdom of this practice and leave Kenneth with nothing to do. This plotline winds up in a hysterically absurd sequence in which Kenneth proves how good he is at his job by producing a pizza box to assuage Tracy’s hunger, then revealing that the box is in fact full of the waffles he secretly desired. Everyone cheered inexplicably and Kenneth grinned like a mad man, and the whole world was right again.
I would be remiss if I did not mention tonight’s cameo by Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef fame, who Jack brings in to host Dealbreakers in Liz’s stead. Padma is not much of a comedic actress, but the show uses her pretty wooden delivery to its advantage as she proves that she has gotten by simply on her beauty and then steals some of Jack’s food, cramming it into a clear sandwich storage bag she claims to have invented and has therefore embroidered with her own initials. She may not have lit up the episode on her own, but the show new just how to use her, more evidence of a strong return to form. This episode was not perfect, but it made me laugh harder and more often than anything else the series has provided so far this season, and it gave me hope for the weeks to come.
Grade: A-
Notes:
-In China, Liz’s name is Lesbian Yellow Sourfruit.
-The continuity gag was a cute, inoffensive sort of meta joke, even if it was a bit obvious and on the nose.
-“Must I live by Superman’s moral code and will the sex woman get older?” The questions of our age.
-“Spit take! Are you serious?” I love when the characters simply say what they would do or what is going on. The best other examples are Tracy’s “wordplay!” and when every character gasps and says “twist!”
-“I feel about as useless as a mom’s college degree.”
- Another in the growing list of successful books in 30 Rock land: The Founding Father’s Diet.
-“I’ve already spoken to Padma.” “Then who’s going to host Top Chef? You’re ruining my life!”
-“Kenneth, you can’t be a page forever.” “Who said I’ve been alive forever?” I love the running joke that Kenneth is immortal. So absurd but so consistently hilarious.
-Tracy makes Kenneth brush his teeth.
-“Do you want to switch where we’re standing or switch our shirts?” “Just to be safe let’s do both.” I’m no Jenna fan, but when she’s paired with Tracy, a lot of good tends to come of it.
-“I didn’t get a bathroom door that looks like a wall from being bad at business.”
-“What’s a problem other than a stripper having a seizure on your boat disguised as an opportunity?”
The plot this week centers on Jack offering Liz her own talk show based on her hit book Dealbreakers. She at first accepts, but at the advice of Tracy and Jenna (whose plotline I’ll get to in a minute) she decides to play hardball instead, hiring an agent and exploring her options. Long time viewers should know this was a foolish step, as no one is better at business and negotiations than Jack Donaghy, but Liz set out with her agent, who had just begun catering to humans and primates after a long career of representing dogs. She managed to secure a meeting with the maverick producer of Sport-Shouting (a program where analysts simply shout their opinions at the same time). We all knew where she would end up, but the hilarious and slightly heartfelt take on romantic comedy endings as she and Jack realized they were (professionally) perfect for each other and shook hands really hit home.
After his hiring last week, the robot, revealed tonight to be a Canadian immigrant named Danny (his real name is Jack, but there aren’t allowed to be two Jack’s, so now he is Danny) who just wants to get on everybody’s nice side. This includes Kenneth, so he refuses to let the page do anything for him. Unfortunately, Tracy and Jenna, who have dubbed themselves “The Problem Solvers” of the episode’s title, see the wisdom of this practice and leave Kenneth with nothing to do. This plotline winds up in a hysterically absurd sequence in which Kenneth proves how good he is at his job by producing a pizza box to assuage Tracy’s hunger, then revealing that the box is in fact full of the waffles he secretly desired. Everyone cheered inexplicably and Kenneth grinned like a mad man, and the whole world was right again.
I would be remiss if I did not mention tonight’s cameo by Padma Lakshmi of Top Chef fame, who Jack brings in to host Dealbreakers in Liz’s stead. Padma is not much of a comedic actress, but the show uses her pretty wooden delivery to its advantage as she proves that she has gotten by simply on her beauty and then steals some of Jack’s food, cramming it into a clear sandwich storage bag she claims to have invented and has therefore embroidered with her own initials. She may not have lit up the episode on her own, but the show new just how to use her, more evidence of a strong return to form. This episode was not perfect, but it made me laugh harder and more often than anything else the series has provided so far this season, and it gave me hope for the weeks to come.
Grade: A-
Notes:
-In China, Liz’s name is Lesbian Yellow Sourfruit.
-The continuity gag was a cute, inoffensive sort of meta joke, even if it was a bit obvious and on the nose.
-“Must I live by Superman’s moral code and will the sex woman get older?” The questions of our age.
-“Spit take! Are you serious?” I love when the characters simply say what they would do or what is going on. The best other examples are Tracy’s “wordplay!” and when every character gasps and says “twist!”
-“I feel about as useless as a mom’s college degree.”
- Another in the growing list of successful books in 30 Rock land: The Founding Father’s Diet.
-“I’ve already spoken to Padma.” “Then who’s going to host Top Chef? You’re ruining my life!”
-“Kenneth, you can’t be a page forever.” “Who said I’ve been alive forever?” I love the running joke that Kenneth is immortal. So absurd but so consistently hilarious.
-Tracy makes Kenneth brush his teeth.
-“Do you want to switch where we’re standing or switch our shirts?” “Just to be safe let’s do both.” I’m no Jenna fan, but when she’s paired with Tracy, a lot of good tends to come of it.
-“I didn’t get a bathroom door that looks like a wall from being bad at business.”
-“What’s a problem other than a stripper having a seizure on your boat disguised as an opportunity?”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)