Once Upon A Time

I haven't posted one of these in a while. I figure I better get busy because the Fall season is upon us and I haven't done much recapping of what was good about last season. I hardly think one post qualifies! I am going to start limiting these posts to my TV blog, so if you like this sort of thing, you should start following that blog. If I think of it I will make a notation that I have posted on my regular blog and link it in. However, I wouldn't place any bets on my remembering to actually accomplish this feat.

As I mentioned the last time I posted like this, picking one scene out of a season is extremely difficult. With this show, I could not do it. I thought I had it, but then I changed my mind. The show is JJ Abram's Once Upon A Time. The premise of that show is that the Evil Queen placed a curse on all of the storybook characters taking away their Happy Ever Afters. Instead, they no longer know who they are and live in our world in a town called Storybrook, Maine. They cannot leave the town. The only one who knows the truth of the matter is the Evil Queen (Regina) who is the Mayor of the town and Rumpelstiltskin (Mr. Gold). Regina's adopted son suspects the truth when he reads a book of Fairytales provided by his teacher (Snow White) and becomes determined to save the town.

JJ Abrams is also known for Felicity, Alias, Lost, and Alcatraz. I know that he has numerous movie projects to his credit. The only one immediately coming to mind is the newest Star Trek movie (the prequel). Whenever I see his name attached to something I am willing to give it a whirl. His imagination is fearless. I like that about him.

Anyway, Once Upon A Time embraced many of the style points that made Lost so much fun. It, too, rockets back and forth between past and present to tell the story. Even though the characters don't remember who they are, it doesn't change your choices so much. People don't change at the CORE. In other words, you are who you are. So, as they face challenges in this "foreign" world, the story often juxtaposes to their past when they faced a similar challenge. All of these characters are onions. I love that. Mostly because you don't really expect it in a fairy tale. In the fairy tale good is good and bad is bad. Black is black and white is white. There really was no grey. In Once Upon A Time you discover that the story has a lot more shading than you originally thought.

And people aren't just born evil. It was a JOURNEY. And it is walking that mile in their shoes that is always the most interesting part. So, you start out hating the Evil Queen because she is just so darn hateful and evil. And then at the end you find out how she got that way and it is like being turned on your head. Evil isn't born; it's made. And while you wish she had made different choices and could embrace things like forgiveness, those things, too, are taught. What happens when you are raised by evil?

So, I am going to show you two clips. The first one is a combo clip. I would have liked to show you a clip from episode 18 that really showed what happened to Regina to turn her evil, but Disney has pulled it off of youtube. This clip has pieces of it in there, along with other stuff, so it should give you a pretty good picture of what happened.



That episode changed everything we thought about Regina. She was a girl in love with a boy. She had a controlling mother who abused magic for her own ends. A little girl, Snow White, found out about this love that Regina had for the stable boy and encouraged Regina to marry him. Regina decided to leave home with her love, but told Snow that she must not tell anyone, especially her mother. However, Snow was grieving for her own mother, so when Regina's mother began to question Snow about Regina, Snow was an easy target. She easily gave up Regina's secrets, believing all that false concern Regina's mother expressed. And then Regina's mother found Regina and her love and killed him. She then forced Regina into a marriage with the king. When Regina found out what Snow had done, her heart hardened and she blamed her, her father, the whole world for her misery. They would all pay for Daniel's death. They would all be just as miserable as she was. The opposite of love isn't apathy. It is hate. And her hate just ate her alive.

Now, was it unrealistic to expect a little girl to keep a big secret like that? Of course. Did Snow reveal that secret to hurt Regina? Of course not. She thought that Regina's mother loved her in the same way that her own mother had loved her. She didn't know how wrong she was. She didn't know what kind of person Regina's mother was. She didn't understand these people at all. She was a child. However, Regina's pain over the loss of her love never allowed her to see Snow that way.

And that is what makes this scene the best of the season...



Ironically, they are both doing the things they are doing out of love. Regina is doing what she is doing out of a twisted love for Daniel. Snow is doing what she is doing out of a pure love for the man she has come to call Charming. Regina thinks that bringing a non-death to Snow White will bring her peace. It won't. She doesn't yet get that because what she really wants is Daniel back and nothing will give her that. However, Snow will have her peace because she is giving the man she loves safety, even it is at her own expense. They are living on the opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. Ironically, watching this scene I feel more sorry for Regina than I do Snow White. She has a long way to go before she will know any peace in her life.

Until you dig out all of the junk there is no room for any good stuff in your life.


image found here

Storming the Castle.

Even before the Hookers and Hangers challenge/contest, I have been thinking a lot about what makes good story. For me, good story is good story. The format doesn't really matter so much. It can be a book, TV show, movie. They are all designed to tell a story. I like TV shows because the intent is that the story goes on... at least, until it doesn't. But, it goes on for a while. And if it is written well, you get to peel back the characters, just a bit at a time, to fully know them. Life is this journey, and they are always in a process of discovering who they are, as the new things that happen to them change them. And we also find out, just a bit at a time, how they got to be the way they were. Or still are. For anyone interested strictly in character development, it is fascinating.

The other thing that I like to watch is the choices that the writers make. Sometimes there is *something* hanging out there from the previous season that MUST be addressed this season in a television series, BUT the ways that they can do it.... Well, they are too many count. Just like in life. Some will go well. Some medium well. Some badly. Some even worse.

So, I have been putting some of my mental resources into thinking about what I considered to be the best scene of the season for My Shows. That is really hard, by the way. Sometimes you have a scene for each set of characters blah blah blah. Narrowing it down to what is approximately the best three minutes of the whole season... aagghhh.

You are going to watch this three minutes and think to yourself.... hmmmm. Especially if you don't watch the show. But, watch it anyway. Focus yourself on Castle primarily. Beckett secondarily. And then I am going to break down how this applies to EVERYONE. That is what makes it the best.

You have to click here to watch.

The hanger at the end of last Season was the Trauma that Kate referred to: she was shot and nearly died. When she was shot, and losing consciousness, Castle finally told her that he loved her. He had come *thisclose* to telling her many times, but didn't.

So, when the season starts the question on everyone's mind is, "Where will they go from here?"

Turns out, they didn't really need to go anywhere. Beckett claimed that she had no memory of anything surrounding the shooting. It was the Trauma.

We find out later that isn't the case. She confesses to her shrink, or a friend, or both, that she always remembered everything, but it was just too much to deal with at the time. She was dealing with PTSD from the shooting (true) at the beginning of the season. And the feelings for Castle were just too much THEN. However, by the time Castle overheard this confession (not the one he was expecting, btw) Beckett was nearly ready to discuss her feelings for him. Let's say she was gathering her courage. Or gearing up. The conversation itself might have still been a few weeks out.

Now, the writers could have allowed Castle to find out Beckett remembered any number of ways. They CHOSE this one.

Maybe you didn't see blood on the floor. Or a proverbial arrow shot through the heart.... what you did see was the look on his face. He looked like someone gut punched him. Someone did. The person he cared about most had been lying to him for about eight months. Bam. Right to the gut.

At this point, everyone does what everyone does. Castle immediately moved into self protection mode. Beckett decided that she'd missed her chance; Castle no longer cared. And it could have gone on like that, but that circumstances forced some confrontations.

The beauty of this scene is that I don't know a better way that Beckett could have done it. She needed to take care of her PTSD before she took care of her love life. When you are losing it psychologically, that is not the time to be worried whether or not the boy likes you or not. She is a detective on the NYPD and melting down could cost her life. So, battling those inner demons and coming out on top had to be the priority. Had she told Castle that she heard what he said, it would have been unfair to say that I need to put you on hold for eight months... but I sure do like you a lot... I might even love you.... I just don't know. Probably because she wasn't admitting that she had PTSD in the first place to anyone but herself. Bah. You admit that and they take your gun. So, she worked it out while she worked. Stubborn lady.

However, don't we all do these things? Take your own issue and sub it for PTSD. Put on hold things or people that matter. Continue to do something that you feel you need to do because it is who you are even if it now scares you to death. Or hurts you in some way. And that is Life.

What makes Castle who he is.... well, that one is harder. He is the guy who after he has his man tantrum knows this woman. And he understands everything I just wrote. And it is why no matter how crazy she makes him, it's still the best crazy ever. Plus, he's a writer. Writers tend to see inside things in a way that the average person misses.

And, for the record, the last episode of the season was AMAZING. The whole darn thing.


image found at www.googleimages.com

GREY'S ANATOMY BREAKDOWN

I haven't posted anything here in TOO LONG. I got blase. I admit it. I still have a difficult time keeping up with my recorded shows on the DVR. Right now, the only primetime shows that I am keeping pace with are GREY'S ANATOMY and BROTHERS & SISTERS. That's it. Everything else is just stacking in the DVR. Ah well. I can address what I know.

Let's talk about GREY'S in this post. I have been meaning to do that for quite a while. I hear GA fans frequently say that the show was excellent for the first three seasons and then it went off the rails. They are right and wrong. Keeping George an intern was right because it was another connection for Meredith's sister, Lexie. Giving all of the new residents interns was WRONG. 1st year residents have no business training interns. Plus, it was way too many new people for the show to track. Bailey should have had George, Lexie, and two other interns who would have become major characters on the show. When she and Callie switched jobs that would have just gotten more interesting because she and George have divorce issues.



All of those new people were too much diversion. The cast member that ultimately suffered the most for it was George. That suffering became obvious in Season 5. However, it likely would not have happened had there been two more interns that became major players instead of a horde of new people distracting the focus from everyone. The other problem that the show had a really hard time overcoming was replacing Burke. Not sure what was up with that, but Seattle Grace had a really tough time finding a head of cardio thoracic surgery. WTF??? Dr. Hahn pulled a Houdini. Now you see her, now you don't. There never was any explanation. And no one ever replaced Addison when she left. She built the best neo-natal unit on the West Coast and then Richard just let it die.... You find the next best neo-natal surgeon and lure them to your hospital. Don't ya? In my opinion, that is who Arizona Robins should be -Addison's replacement. Don't give me another doctor from a totally new department. Replace the doctor that left.

I think T.R. Knight (George) would still be on the show if they had given him any kind of storyline. They didn't. He left. All because of too many interns in Season 4. Huge mistake. One would think that Shonda Rimes would have learned from that mistake. She did not learn from that mistake.

I get the idea of having a large cast so that your cast members can leave to do movies, etc. You are giving them freedom. Excellent. That means bringing in more people. I am down with that. Talented actors and actresses with layered backgrounds. Good stuff. Kim Raver. Kevin McKidd. Two excellent choices. Finally there is someone to head up cardio thoracics and someone to handle the ER.

The dumbass decision was to merge Mercy West and Seattle Grace. Once again, we are over-run with a bunch of residents and interns that we do not know and do not care about. It is another case of too many people. Our favorites are getting pushed onto the backburner for a bunch of people that we don't give a tinker's damn about. Haven't we done this already? Yes. How well did it go the first time? Not well. George died. Then Izzie left. Oh no. This is giving me a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Apparently, it occurred to Shonda that she was covering old ground, too, and this was a problem that needed solving. What will we do? I know. Let's bring in a crazy man with a gun to shoot off all of the extraneous people from Mercy West. He can maim some of our favorites, traumatize some of the others, and we will have a gameplan to start next season off with a *bang* so to speak. And that is just how last season ended and this season began. We now have TWO Mercy West people (I do believe that was my suggestion for Season 4 - 2 new people) and one very traumatized Christina. Some of our other faves are also experiencing PTSD, but they are rolling that out slowly. I loved Alex taking the stairs everywhere. He is seriously one of the best characters on the show.

Grey's does so many things well. It makes us care about the interpersonal relationships between the people. We care about the patients. I like the way that the problems of the patients often highlight the problems of the doctors in a bizarre way. The way that this show has fallen down twice now is by bringing on too many new people at once, to the detriment of the existing characters. I am not sure that the show can survive a third lesson in this department. So, Shonda, just don't do it again! That's all there is to it. Never more than two new people at once! Make it a rule. That said, I have high hopes for this season. I have already seen Christina Yang not want in on a surgery. That is something I thought I would never see. So, truly anything could happen!


image found here

TAKING IT BACK

Last night was the series finale of 24. I have been on pins and needles since the season started. From the get-go there has been talk that Jack might not make it out alive. Horror of horrors. Honestly, it wasn't looking good. My last couple of blogs on my TV blog have been devoted strictly to this subject.

Let me tell what I love most about 24. First, it is like watching a 24 hour movie. Seriously. I got hooked on this show when I started buying it on DVD. It was like the unending action suspense movie. My heart rate went up and I thought, "This is like a cardio workout without the working out part." The next thing I liked was that it was good every season. There wasn't a single season that I walked away and thought, "Well, that one the writers really tanked." I also liked that MOST of the time that our President was a person of moral integrity who wanted to do the right thing. I saw how hard that choice was to make at times. Running the country is just not a job I want.

As for Jack and his counter-intelligence skills... I liked the fact that at the beginning he was always just a little bit behind. Sometimes the results were bad. However, he never gave up, and he always caught up a little at a time every show. It was like watching a runner gain ground. And sometimes lose a bit of ground, too. However, he was relentless. At the end, in the final hours, there was the beauty of watching it all unravel for the bad guys, watching Jack pick up speed, get in front of them, and put the whole ugly mess "down." Catastrophe averted. Bad guys lose.

This season started off more or less the same, but it took a bad detour. Our President, who is a person of moral integrity, became blinded by the forest for the trees. She wanted something that was GOOD so badly that she turned a blind eye to a whole lot of UNSPEAKABLE BAD to get it. When you do that, you tarnish the good, and it isn't good anymore. A lot of people tried to tell her that ~ people that she trusted. But she couldn't see it. And then it got ugly. And that is when I got that sick feeling in my stomach that our government (aka our President) was going to be the one to kill My Jack. Because he is the good guy who can't just let it go, even if it means that he is now working against the President.

Let me tell you, folks, it all came down to the wire. I thought My Jack was a goner. Fortunately, the President had that moment of revelation at the eleventh hour and FINALLY saw the bigger truth. As I am sitting on the couch, holding my breath, clutching the armrest, because My Jack is about to be executed by the Secret Service, the President makes "the phone call" and it is over. She then talks to him and apologizes. She says something like, "I'd give anything to take back the time. If I had listened to you, none of us would be in this mess. Now, you have two governments trying to track you down, one of them being ours. I, of course, will have to answer for what I have done here today. There will be consequences." And then she tells him to run. No one can become a ghost faster than My Jack.

Naturally, I was crying like an idiot. Not sure why. They didn't kill him. The President came to her senses and moral integrity actually won the day. It was a win.

After I clicked off the TV I thought about what she said, "I'd give anything to take back the time." And then she said something about having to live with the consequences for her choices. I suppose that is something to which we can all relate.

JACK, WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME

24 is in progress and I am writing. One of the things that I am going to miss most about 24 and Jack Bauer is how "in your face" Jack is. I guess I mean I like how smart and street savvy the guy is and how he always knows a trap ahead of time. He runs one step ahead of the bad guys, which is their downfall in the end.


One of the things that is killing me right now is that he has hit the point of no return. It is hard to watch. He has been here before... the man with nothing left to lose. After Teri died at the beginning of Season 2... When Kim left and cut him out of her life he hit bottom... After Audrey lost her mind trying to rescue him from China... Yeah, he's been down a lot. But, he thought he was going to get the big happy with Renee, and get to go live close to his daughter, and grand-kid, and it all went straight into the gutter when she was shot and killed.


There is lots of talk (for those who pay attention to this sort of chatter) that Jack might die at the end of this season. That is a kick in the teeth. And it makes sense. What is that saying? He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. The biggest irony of all will be if he is killed by our government ~ our President ~ for trying to expose the truth of a conspiracy that the President should never have covered up in the first place. I would hate it if terrorists took Jack out; I would cry like a baby, and boohoo to anyone who would listen about how I wished that the writers had chosen differently, and let Jack ride off into the sunset. However, having our President give the order to kill Jack gives a whole new meaning to "friendly fire," even if she's doing it via former President Logan, who is seriously lacking moral fibre. She wound him up and let him go knowing exactly who she was letting loose on Jack, and the world. That makes her ultimately responsible.


Therefore, if my worst fears come true and our government fires the silver bullet, I'm just not sure there is enough Kleenex to make it okay. It gives a whole new meaning to cry me a river.

24: SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING

For those of you who watch 24, you know that each episode always delivers a shocking plot twist. That is what makes 24 so great. Check that. It is one of the things that makes 24 so great. The concept of the show is different than anything else out there (it is 24 hours in real time for those of you living in a cave) and Jack Bauer kicks ass on a regular basis. It also scares the crap out of me every season. I have never thought so much about terrorism, or counter-terrorism, as I have since I started watching 24. I was also pretty oblivious to the mindset of terrorist groups. That is no longer the case. I don't understand hate on that kind of level, but I get that it exists. There are groups out there that find honor in killing themselves in order to kill others. Say that over and over and it makes less sense.


Anyway, Fox announced recently that this would be 24's last season. I was saddened by this news. However, apparently this was Kiefer Sutherland's choice as the driving force behind the show, and if he thinks it is time to shut it down, well who I am to argue? If you have been watching the show all along, you know that Jack has not had good luck in the romance department. His wife, Terry, died in Season One. I am really sorry if I am spoiling things for you. I was hopeful about his romance with Kim Raver's character (her name is lost to me at the moment) a couple of seasons back, but that didn't last. But, things were really looking positive for him and Renee this season. And I thought to myself, "Please let Jack have the happy ending if this is going to be the last season. His love life has been dryer than the Sahara Desert." Seriously. That man oozes sex and he isn't getting anything.


Well, my hopes and dreams for Jack's happy ending went down in a hail of bullet fire from a sniper after Jack and Renee finally made love. The man finally had sex after a three year dry spell ~ or something like that ~ it has been a LONG TIME. Let's put it this way, the sheets were still warm, when he got up and the sniper took his shot and took Renee out. It just doesn't get any worse than that. Well, they could have been having sex and he could have took her out during. That would have been worse. This guy can't catch a break. Obviously, it wasn't a highlight for Renee, either. I really liked Renee. I liked Renee and Jack together. They had chemistry and shared a similar enough background that she got him. In other words, he didn't scare her half to death. She knew he had made really tough choices for his country, and she respected it. In fact, she had made some really tough choices herself, so she felt his pain. These two understood each other on a visceral level. It was possible for a happy ending. I really wanted a happy ending, but it didn't happen. I found the above photo at this site and it also contains footage of the horrible death scene. Waaah.


I know why I didn't get my happy ending, mind you. They needed to keep Jack in the game. He was ready to jump ship on this terrorist plot and let CTU handle it. It wasn't his problem anymore. He had fulfilled his commitment to the president. Now, it is personal. Jack Bauer is something to see when he is doing the job. When terrorists start killing the people he loves, he is fierce. I know why they made this choice because Jack Bauer is now on a mission. We have been here before. When 24 launched Season One terrorists kidnapped Jack's wife and daughter. Things got very ugly. They got ugly for the terrorists, that is. It was 24 hours of fly by the seat, hold on to your armchair action. Watching 24 is like watching a 24 hour movie. I didn't think anything could top tht first season and then they just kept bringing it. Turns out they didn't need to kidnap Jack's family to really piss me him off at the end of the day. You get shot at enough times, you tend to get mad. Well, in this last season we've come full circle. It's gotten personal again. Things are just now getting interesting... I found this photo here and it has other interesting 24 stuff.

GREY'S ANATOMY HITTING ME IN THE HEART

I am going to post on Grey's Anatomy. I don't have anything thought-provoking actually. It is an excellent show that never ceases to amaze me. Shonda Rimes writes well and/or hires people who write well. She casts well. The talent is just wicked amazing. The best thing about that show is the character development. The layering of the characters is awe inspiring. The show is in its sixth season and we are still learning new stuff about the original characters. The show packs an emotional punch that as I writer I envy.

Mostly this post is happening because I am avoiding working on my own novel and preferred to spend my time surfing youtube. It's shameful, really. This first video is nice because all of the material comes from a 2-part epiosde, "It's The End of The World As We Know It," and the creator managed to incorporate a lot of dialogue in with the music. It is from season two of the show and is one of my favorite episdoes. So much is going here for all of the characters. Great video.




The second video just touched me. It was odd watching it, actually, because most of the couples didn't work out, BUT there was love there and the song was perfect. Anyway, I couldn't embed the video so you will have to click here to watch it. I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane as much as I did.