Who is Piper Chapman?

Throughout the course of books, TV shows and movies, characters that audiences fall in love with, or love to hate, often evolve.  In a strange series of events on my part, I’ve been clearing my DVR of Fortitude (I’ve still got a ways to go) and I’ve been reading The Hunger Games and Philosophy.  On the same night, I viewed the Fortitude episode in which one character (POSSIBLE SPOILER if you’re planning on watching or if you haven’t seen/read Hunger Games or plan on watching Orange is the New Black or Fortitude) states that she’s not the same person she was seven years ago because over the course of seven years, all the cells in your body are replaced.  In her definition, she is focusing on her physical presence, not her spiritual or emotional one, which one could argue isn’t just housed through the cells in your body.  Later that night, I read the essay Who is Peeta Mellark in the aforementioned Hunger Games book and it discussed the transformation of Peeta from the sweet boy who is in love with Katniss into the disillusioned one at the end of the book.  The focus of the essay was on both the emotional Peeta as well as physical.  Peeta was tortured by the Capital to forget the positive things he knew about Katniss and believe she meant him harm.  The boy that is rescued from the Capital bears little resemblance to the boy we first met, yet it is the same person.  This had my mind rolling in a few directions and as I thought about it, it lent me to the character evolution of Piper, and Alex, in Orange is the New Black and the relationship between the two.

In the beginning of Orange is the New Black, the audience is introduced to the affluent Piper Chapman who is incarcerated for the part she played in carrying drug money through customs for her then-girlfriend Alex Vause.  The timing of the offense occurred ten years prior and the audience witnesses Piper’s transition into being a free person as being someone who can work within the system of the jail.  The contrast from seasons one to three are quite stark, the tipping point being the end result to fellow inmate Stella.  Is the Piper the audience first meets the real Piper, or is the Piper at the end of season three the real Piper?

The sense of self is a long-argued point amongst philosophers.  There are many branches to this argument and the one that makes the most sense for the aforementioned characters to me is the idea promoted by David Hume.  In his writings, Hume asserts that there is a bundle theory of self.  The idea being that a person today and a person a few years prior may be drastically different, but is the same base person.  In a way, or the way it helps me to understand this concept, is like a painting, you have a base layer and you may add or subtract, but at the end of the day, even if the painting isn’t complete, your idea of the painting is still the same, the product is still the same product you had when you started, even if elements of it have changed and may yet change again and be weathered and worn over time.  Hume (from A Treatise of Human Nature) phrases it as follows:


We are never intimately conscious of anything but a particular perception; man is a bundle or collection of different perceptions which succeed one another with an inconceivable rapidity and are in perpetual flux and movement


The sense of self is a combination of many varying elements and despite what Alex says to Piper in season one (while they’re playing cards), she probably isn’t nearly as consistent as she believes herself to be.  The Piper and Alex that the audience meets before the series started (through flashbacks) are not the same pair we meet in season one nor the pair that ends up in two very different places at the end of season three.  Each action and interaction affects them both in different ways.

When Piper first arrives in prison, she has a very naïve outlook on life, wary of everyone at prison, but still not smart enough to be silent when she needs to be.  Some of her first interactions with the other prisoners are cringe-worthy, like her foot-in-mouth insult of Red, the prison chef.  And while Alex tries to help her (and is punished for offering said help), Piper quickly learns and adjusts.  Even after one day, the Piper the audience meets is vastly different than the Piper from the second day.  Which Piper is the real one?

Hume asserts that both are Piper.  A person grows each day, adding something to their outlook on life, their behaviour.  Even if Piper, when she rekindles her romance with Alex, states that she “feels like 23 and no time has passed.  I’ve changed so much.”  Alex counters that she hasn’t changed at all, which the audience also learns is false as Alex dabbles in drug use and learns from it.  Change is inevitable, but does that change make you a completely different person?

Another great philosophical reference is the Ship of Theseus analogy.  In the story, a group of Athenians were keeping a boat from breaking down by replacing the boat piece by piece as it needed to be repaired.  Each piece was replaced with an identical piece, yet one could argue the boat that set out was not the same boat when it returned as all the pieces had, at some point, been replaced.  

When we are introduced to Alex, through the lenses of Piper’s prejudice, she is untrustworthy and unscrupulous.  By the end of season three, Alex is a lot more honest with Piper, at least, despite the ending of their relationship.  Through flashbacks, we see Alex as being somewhat naïve, even if she was knowingly working for a drug cartel.  The fear and paranoia she exhibits are wildly drastic from the untroubled Alex viewers met in season one.  In a way, Alex and Piper move in two opposing directions, the control between them shifting between them like a wave.  If the characters are meant to be together, I expect the waves to settle in the upcoming seasons, which would be a nice contrast to the contrivances we’ve endured over this last season.

A different way to view this would be an eye-test of sorts.  Would Piper from season one even speak to Piper from season three?  The two may share the same history and backstory, but once Piper enters prison, she ceases to be the never-incarcerated Piper.  To some degree, I believe that when your worldview begins to change based upon your surroundings, the chance is so profound that you truly are a different person, a person the previous you might not be able to identify with on any level.

In essence, the Piper from season one to season three is a completely different person.  The same can be said about Alex, though for slightly different reasons.  The character development for Piper, as the central character, was far greater than any other character.  As the show has progressed, each of the characters have been fleshed out, and the strong, sarcastic Alex has been boiled down from her high, looking very much human.  It does say something about both characters that neither are pleased with the change in the other, stating that neither is pleased with the new “version” of the other.  The recognition of the versions belies itself to my theory.  They recognise the change and realise they are two different people.  I’d like to believe, at the core of their relationship, they still do care about each other, as Alex states in season one “When you have a connection with someone, it never really goes away…you snap back to being important to each other because you still are.”  Despite the changes the two characters evolve into, maybe they are the same and we’re the ones who’ve changed our views.

Why You’re Not Watching Orange is the New Black (But You Should Be!)

If you know me, you know I’m a fan of all things orange, so it might surprise you that I’ve only just now started watching Orange is the New Black.  I’m not sure what exactly triggered it, but something about a commercial or teaser drew me in.  I partially blame the direction the world is going in, not as a bad thing, but with people being more open with different types of people in every way possible, a show that displays that should be lauded and not shunned.

Netflix Subscription

This was the first turnoff for me.  I pay way too much to DirecTV right now and I couldn’t begin to wrap my mind around the idea of paying for more TV.  I mean, how much TV can one person watch?  But let’s be honest, how many of those additional channels do I even watch?  Since I’m not an HBO junkie, I can clear that off my list and the rest of the movie channels really just regurgitate the same movies over and over again.  With Netflix, you get a wider variety of movies to choose from.  I already saw The Babadook (a horror movie) that hasn’t been on any of the movie channels and added a few more items to my Watch List.  For $9 a month (for the middle tier), that’s $108 a year for a few more channels and I can cut about $90 per month when I get rid of the movie channels.  Yes, that math computes.

Gratuitous Scenes

Once you’ve gotten past the cost (and you can free trial the first month), the next thing I feel like people get turned off by certain types of scenes.  I’m not going to sugar coat this in anyway, because I never would, there are a fair amount of Lebanese scenes (my Golden Girls code word).  The main storyline, for the first season centers around protagonist Piper(Taylor Schilling) going back to jail because her ex-girlfriend Alex (Laura Prepon) was a drug dealer that got caught and may have fingered her as an accomplice.  At the same time, Piper is engaged to Larry (Jason Biggs).  There is a bit of both straight and not-straight storylines and characters and if that’s something that makes you uncomfortable, I can understand your reluctance.  At the same time, I feel like opening your mind to new ideas isn’t a bad thing.  I challenge anyone who watches the show not to root for, to some degree, the rekindling of the relationship between Piper and Alex.

Depressing

Let’s face it, the show is set in prison.  But it isn’t Oz.  I feel like Mean Girls is kind of a good reference point for the concept.  Even the characters cite how prison is a lot like high school with cliques and gossip.  Everyone knows everyone else’s business.  There are no secrets because everyone is living on top of each other (not literally).  There are both uplifting and devastating moments throughout the three seasons.  The show is seen, at first, through Piper’s eyes and as an upper-class, affluent person, the challenges she faces are very realistic.  The fact that she insults the cook on the very first day and has to find a way out of it or she won’t get fed is a situation that is both dire and still somehow amusing at the same time.

There are so many instances where we are reminded how bad choices lead to consequences.  The backstories for each character are fleshed out, some more than others, and there is a character for everyone.
The reason you should be watching:

Cast

This is where diversity really hits a stride for OITNB.  I have yet to see a group not well represented, except perhaps for men, who are really painted one-dimensionally for large chunks of the story.  The main story, and the first season, serve mostly to introduce the audience to the prison and go through the ups and downs with Piper.  Throughout the course of the first season, there are a variety of characters introduced and over time, more is revealed.  No matter what race you are (save Indian, like me, no Indians in jail), there seems to be some general representation. The show even pokes fun at this through an appointed council that is basically populated by a representative from each group: White, Black, Latino, Golden Girls and Other.  If you look past the main white cast, the talent spills over with everyone else.  Uzo Aduba won an Emmy for her performance from the first season, and there were a lot of other nominees besides her.

Story

I wish I could put into words what kept me coming back, but I can’t.  At the same time, I’m already re-watching the entire series, trying to pick up on things I might have missed.  The show is rife full of pop culture references, mostly though Tastee and her love for Harry Potter and reading.  If that doesn’t do it for you, there is a story with a Latino family and an impregnated inmate, something straight out of a soap opera.  The overarching villains for seasons one and two are memorable, but more so as we watch the evolution of season one’s Pennsatucky grow increasingly sympathetic as the seasons wear on.  Her character evolution is one of the starker ones, next to Piper’s fall into darkness.

Relationships

The idea of prison is terrifying, at least to me, you might not be phased by it.  The fact that every single person incarcerated in the show, at one point or another, admits to doing something wrong to end up there, but at the same time finds solace from others there as well is what is fascinating.  Even if the groups seem separated (white, black, other, old), the groups are still mixed and the mixing creates for some very compelling viewing.  When Red loses the kitchen in season 2 and is forced to join the old people table, the viewer sees people who might be forgotten by most, but can still contribute.

Consensus

I probably have a lot more blogs in me on this subject, but this is really scratching the surface.  A lot of fans have mixed feelings about season three being slightly aimless, as opposed to the conventional narrative in the first two seasons, but I’d argue the third season ties it all together, especially if you’re just now watching the show.  A lot of loose ends are tied together and while some parts were slower than others, I still watched it without stop and could keep watching it.

Is like: Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

On: Whenever you feel like watching – no waiting!

Supernatural Spotlight: Bitten

Remember those episode spotlights I did for a while last year?  Well, after watching last night’s episode of Supernatural (read SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t seen it), I feel compelled to pick it up again.  Remember, this ep aired last night here in the states, so if you’re not caught up with SPN Season 8, then please stop reading so you don’t curse me out later.

In this episode, as summarised perfectly at TV.com, the story starts as a ‘found’ footage story, a la Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch Project.  We’ve only seen the series do this once with Ghostfacers, but the end result was still pretty amazing.  The story follows three friends, one who is the geeky, timid kid with the cameras, the other is his suave friend and his girlfriend.  As per any episode of Supernatural, there are demons and murder and a good deal of gore.  It would be impossible for me not to spoil the ending without saying why the episode was so affecting, but I’ll do my best to gloss over the details.

While following a local bully, the two friends get separated, one of them attacked by a mysterious creature.  The other friend finds him and takes him home.  Once home, the cuts miraculously heal, and he’s stronger after the attack.  While this is occurring, the Winchester brothers are investigating the story, unaware of the constant filming.  Many long-time SPN fans dislike the minimisation of the Winchester boys, but it actually makes for great storytelling.

As the one friend grows stronger, and somewhat inadvertently kills the bully, the geeky friend decides he wants this power as well.  A scuffle ensues and while the one friend just wants to leave well enough alone, the geeky friend won’t have it and they both become infected with being purebred werewolves.  As insane as this story is, the twist comes with the discovery of the main werewolf and how the video was left for the two brothers to find later.  The big reveal has the girlfriend alive, the only one to survive.  If you’re a fan of SPN at all, you know Dean is known for never letting anything get away.  But in a surprise twist, Dean agrees with Sam, and they decide to give the girl a chance instead of hunting her down.

I’ll be the first to admit that this show screams ‘jumped the shark’ with every other episode, but in this one, they got it right.  The idea for SPN has grown stale, they keep hunting the same demons, trying to defeat Lucifer, trying to defeat whatever the writers can come up with.  But in this episode, you see a lot of character and heart and a story that makes you feel badly for the victim who ultimately is a monster herself.  The girl leaves a pleading message, begging the brothers not to hunt her down, and as per maybe one or two other instances, they let her go.

The draw for Supernatural (SPN) isn’t the scares, but the characters, something that makes Bones never feel old to me.  Just a few weeks ago, I was so bored with an episode of SPN I couldn’t sit still, flipping through games (though, I could also blame the NLCS for being too exciting).  I wish the writers would focus more on compelling characters instead of making bigger, meaner baddies for the boys to fight.  It is rare to see one good episode a year, anymore, but if you only watch one new SPN ep this year, let it be this one.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: A Retrospective

I’ve been noticing a lot of nostalgia in my life.  It started several years ago when Cartoon Network re-released the old Thundercats and Transformers cartoons, which I quickly realised were not how I remember them.  But one of the few shows I can watch even now, from childhood, and still find hilariously entertaining is Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  Yes, punch my ticket for childishness, absurdity and general prop humour.

The concept of Sabrina is rather simple, girl turns sixteen, realises she’s really a witch, but of course can’t tell anyone, hilarity ensues.  The idea of not living with your parents at that age is always interesting, but having two aunts as eccentric as Sabrina even I could do without.  Over the course of seven seasons, Sabrina goes from high school to college and grows up.  But the story of her progress isn’t what keeps me coming back, but the random unrelated stories that tie the concept together.  Here are just a few examples of things I’ve been scarred for life from thanks to Sabrina Spellman.

Pancakes

I will never look at pancakes the same again.  During the first few seasons, there was a deep dark secret (two actually) that Sabrina couldn’t be told.  One was that she had an evil twin and the other, that she was addicted to pancakes.  Every time I got to IHOP (which I call IJUMP for those of you that know me well), I always say to my sister, ‘Do you remember that episode of Sabrina?’  To which she often replies something along the lines of, ‘God again, Hina?   What is it with you and that episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch?’  Yes, every single time I see pancakes, it reminds me of that episode of Sabrina.

All Spellman family members are cursed with an addiction to pancakes.  I think I have an addiction to waffles, but that isn’t the point.  Watching Sabrina consume massive amounts of pancakes over the course of the episode Pancake Madness is absolutely priceless.  At one point, she tries to lick syrup off of a plate in a very child-like fashion.

Wax

No, not the kind you use with candles or to remove unwanted hair, but your parents.  That’s right; Sabrina’s mom for most of the show is a big ball of wax.  One of the curses of being a mortal woman marrying a warlock and then divorcing him is that you apparently turn into a ball of wax should you you’re your daughter face-to-face.

Random, right?  They never lacked in drama in the show, and seeing her mother talk through the ball of wax was pretty awesome

Evil Twins

According to the world of Sabrina, we all have one.  In a series of episodes (I believe) Sabrina is faced with her evil twin.  All witches have one and she must prove she isn’t evil.  The trials to reach this conclusion are pretty fun, and Sabrina, despite her best efforts, all her attempts to be good end badly.  The trials consist of each Sabrina trying to show their goodness.  At the end, Hilda and Zelda stand by as Sabrina, who has been proven to be evil, is to be thrown in a volcano for being evil.  It is the final test and the evil twin fails it as she pushes Sabrina in.

I often wonder if this is a stolen plotline from that one Treehouse of Horror where we discover Bart had an evil twin and they wonder if they went with the wrong Bart.  I miss the older Treehouse of Horror specials; the newer ones are too obvious.

Two Crazy Aunts

Sounds like the title for some depressing Russian play (see Uncle Vanya), but no, Sabrina has two really great, really insane aunts.  As you may guess, I always loved the funny one.  Caroline Rhea was a great aunt, who can forget her failed career at being a professional violinist?  Besides, I can’t ever forgive Aunt Zelda for throwing Kate under the bus and not defending her when she killed her real father for abusing her mother.  Wait, was that the same show?  Doesn’t matter, I get Lost easily.  Zelda was always such a smarty pants, it was occasionally insufferable, but also very amusing.

I did love the Odd Couple mentality between the two aunts.  Hilda was fun and carefree, Zelda, serious and focused.  But both created a wonderful environment for Sabrina to grow up in.

Cats

I’m not an animal person to begin with; I find them unpredictable, much like children, and thus dangerous.  But Salem was no mere cat.  No, this animatronic feline was a wise-cracking, plotting megalomaniac.  People often forget that the reason Salem was a cat, was because he was being punished for trying to take over the world.

Some of my favourite Salem gags involve the back-and-forth between Salem and Harvey and the constant attempts to thwart the neighbourhood cat across the street.  Salem was one of only two characters who appeared in every episode of the series, Sabrina being the other.

I could go on for hours, but really, how many of you even read this far?  I don’t know that there will ever be a show that was as engaging and light-hearted, while still having great balance.  I miss the crazy musical guests, like Britney and NSYNC.  I miss the insane stories like Sabrina having a quizmaster and being placed on TV after Salem sells her life story to a Witching Channel.  Or the Witch Boot Camp that Hilda gave the instructor nightmares from.  Most of my friends make fun of me for loving Sabrina, but it was a great show that helped me combat issues like pancake addition with aplomb.

Supernatural Spotlight: Season Five

As you may be aware, I sometimes accumulate more than I can handle, and of all varieties of items.  The gaming queue is no joke, but my DVD/Blu Ray queue is ten times worse.  When I managed to finish 21 games last year, what I failed to say is that time I used to game, was not used to watch DVD’s, so while I kept buying my favourite shows and games, only one queue was being reduced.  Which comes to the point of this blog, I’ve only just now finished watching Supernatural Season Five, which has been on DVD for over a year, maybe even two.  But what is just as compelling is how amazing the entire season was and how great the show continues to be despite its age.

If you’re unfamiliar with Supernatural, I’ll do my best to give you a crash course in less than five sentences.  The show follows the exploits of two brothers: Sam and Dean.  Sam is estranged from the family, but is brought back into the fold when their father disappears.  Sam and Dean were trained by their father to do what others couldn’t, or wouldn’t, fight monsters and demons.  After their father dies, Dean tries to protect Sam, but both boys die at least once in the course of the five seasons.  Sam eventually succumbs to the darkness that is within him and releases the Devil, which catches up to the fifth season.  A lot of other stuff did happen, but that is the main storyline.

The fifth season begins right where the fourth season left off, with Sam and Dean in a church where Lucifer is about to be set free from his cage.  The two miraculously get out and are placed on a plane, though they have no recollection of how they got there.  The season continues where the other seasons had left off, Dean being funny, but also reserved, knowing that the end is nigh and his brother, whom he can no longer trust, is responsible for it.  Sam continues his troublesome ways, putting the world in peril and being indecisive and self-involved.  I know, you can tell which brother I identify with and admire and which I’d like killed off, but Eric Kripke knows the key to his success is the combination the two brothers have on one another.

The story of Supernatural weaves its way through all kinds of folk lore, bringing things to life that most of us would consider unreal, while also broaching the subjects of responsibility, family and identity.  The crux of the story is the contention between the two brothers, ably described by the conflict in the fifth (and what should have been the final) season of Supernatural.  The show uses mythology about angels and has both angels and demons needing vessels to possess people in order to walk on Earth and be heard by people.  In this season, Sam is to be Lucifer’s vessel and Dean is to be Michael’s.  As the show indicates, Dean, the older brother who follows his father’s orders to a fault, like Michael, will face off against Sam, the younger brother who has made many mistakes, but was really their father’s favourite, like Lucifer.  This is all following the lore of the show, not actual Christian beliefs; though I’m sure they borrowed heavily from the ‘good’ book.

As the season comes to a close, Dean comes to terms with the fact that he can’t be Michael’s vessel and refuses to bring upon the apocalypse.  It is a constant mystery, to me, why this was so difficult.  For dramatic effect, it makes sense that Dean and Sam don’t want to comply, knowing that the angels are doing all of this without God’s consent.  But as the season progresses and the audience learn that God doesn’t feel it is his problem to intervene, it is there that I felt like Dean should have stepped forward.  The trouble with this battle is that no matter what, based on what they know, the apocalypse will cost many, many lives.  But in the end, that wasn’t the case, making the ending somewhat anticlimactic.  Sam’s decision to avoid Lucifer makes more sense, though he is a seriously flawed character and Lucifer promises him the world, Sam is at least smart enough to know that this isn’t a promise he can put much stock in.

What frustrates me most about Sam is best captured in the season five episode Dark Side of theMoon.  In that episode, two hunters find Sam and Dean and kill them, sending both to heaven.  All of Dean’s memories are with his family; either his father, mother or brother.  All of Sam’s memories are about him not being with his family.  I may over-identify too much, but Sam is always whinging about how his father was mean or his life unfair, but Dean spends all his time trying to keep his view of life, which family is an integral part of, intact.  Sam is an ungrateful child, Dean is the responsible adult.  And what are the rewards for the two?  At the end of the season, Sam supposedly dies, while Dean loses his brother and has to live with that forever.  The levels of sadness that Dean exhibits in a few short moments after Sam plummets into the cage are honest and indicative of Dean’s true desire to have a normal, family-oriented life.  The contrast between the two brothers makes for great drama, but also makes for more realistic characters.

The show closes with Sam, who should be dead, looking at Dean as he joins a former lover and takes up life with her.  It is at this ending that I was convinced that there wouldn’t be the same show the following year, but indeed seasons six and seven have basically continued, always another major crisis and one of the two brothers forced to make a major sacrifice.  The most notable, for me, is when Dean is forced to have his girlfriend’s and son’s memories wiped so they never remember him, once again an instance of Dean sacrificing what he wants for his brother Sam.

The show is great for a one-hour horror show, but I wonder if the show didn’t ‘jump the shark’ a long time ago.  There are great one-off episodes that don’t ‘fit’ in with the rest of the seasons, much like this past week’s episode that was as forgettable as ever.  But I wonder if Eric Kripke will let this show have a great ending as it deserves once he’s finally run out of stories.  If you’ve never watched Supernatural, you literally are missing out on a wonderful, thoughtful show that fills the gap left by Buffy, X-files and the like.  The first six seasons are on DVD and I’m debating jumping the DVD queue to bring season six up now that I’ve finished season five, but I might need a break, from Sam.

I’ve only scratched the surface on this show and could go on for pages and pages about this show.  Look for more blogs on this, and other TV shows, as I struggle through the winter months and Mass Effect.

Bones Season 7 Episode 1

Normally I wouldn’t allude to committing to writing a weekly blog about a TV show, but what I’m hoping to do is reflect on some of my favourite eps of random shows, so the titles won’t always be in order or anything.  Last night was the season premiere of Bones, always delayed thanks to the World Series.  If you’ve never watched the show and have any inclination, you should stop reading, go back to your knitting and catch me tomorrow in what I hope will be a thoughtful post about the 5^th of November.  SPOLIERS AHOY!

In this 7^th season of Bones, we find our love-struck main protagonists, Dr. Brennan and Special Agent Booth, of the FBI, cohabitating in either of their places, the two having conceived before the end of the previous season.  Only later in the episode to you realise whether the rest of the characters are aware of this or not, as the time it was revealed, it was not public knowledge.

Bones is a murder mystery show.  It doesn’t deviate much from this premise from year-to-year.  I myself didn’t get completely enamoured with the show until I started watching it for the male lead, David Boreanz, formerly of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.  I didn’t think much of the show at first, the idea is being duplicated by shows like Cold Case, CSI: Everywhere and Law & Order: Everything.  What makes Bones so memorable, I learned, are the characters.  I am sure that is a tired statement, but in all honesty, that is what really did it for me.

Dr. Brennan is very compartmentalised, she doesn’t allow her varying feelings to get in the way of her work.  Booth isn’t just a tough guy, he has a soft side that he is always trying to convince Brennan with.  The supporting characters are played by relatively unknown top-notch actors who embrace their roles.  At first the romance between Hodgins and Angela seems destined to fail, but as the season closed last year, the two welcomed their first child.  There is a rotating slot for different interns, each more eccentric or unusual as the last.

I wanted to provide some slight background before forging forward.  The success for Bones also lies in one key element, the unrequited love between the two leads.  So as the season started this year, I was concerned that it would go the way of X-Files and roll downhill from here, or as is sometimes stated, ‘jumped the shark.’  The show has always stayed true to its characters, showing them being true to form regardless of the varying situations.  There is a great episode in Season 3 where Brennan and Booth are confronted with a court trial of Brennan’s father, and while you would think Booth would lie or refuse to testify, he gets on the stand and states she couldn’t commit murder but implicates her father, knowing the consequence of doing it.

In this season’s opener, we see the two characters together for much of the episode, and what follows is a curious dance, for a lack of a better word.  What I didn’t expect was to see the characters develop themselves into a cohesive unit.  When X-files did this, Scully and Mulder remained unchanged, holding to their true forms, but would it be unreasonable to assume that a romantic relationship would change that?  Bones embraced this change, seemingly, having the two argue and fight over things that normal couples would fight over, staying true to form, but adjusting to the differing circumstances. 

It is a strange thing to see the characters act like they are indeed in a relationship, when they’ve denied themselves the luxury for so long.  While I can’t say it was an unmitigated success, I can have some slight hope that this won’t be the fat lady singing.  The rest of the characters adjusted to the relationship, but there is a clear strain in all directions.  I wonder if the shorter season will affect the overall show.  I also hope that a dorsal fin isn’t on the horizon.

Ringer: SMG Does it Again

Last night, while watching the Giants game, my DVR informed me we’d be watching Ringer on CW at 9 PM.  Yeah, I have one of those DVR’s that does not let you watch more than one thing at a time.  It can be vexing, but it is also a good reminder as well.  I am a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, both series done by Joss Whedon.  In this instance, Sarah Michelle Gellar breaks away from that franchise and is starting a new series.  According to the press releases I’ve heard about, the story has Gellar playing twin sisters and the story isn’t really explained beyond that.

It took about 45 minutes, but I was hooked.  This story has about as many twists as Lost.  Gellar plays both sisters very well, though critics have panned the overall differentiation between the two sisters to be minimal.  The story starts off with the one sister, the troubled sister who is a recovering alcoholic and stripper, while the other sister is well to do.

Some might compare this to a diluted Parent Trap, but the two sisters are different, but the troubled one slips into the role of the sophisticated one in too easy a manner.  Bridget, the troubled one goes out to meet her sister, while slipping her required witness protection.  The sophisticated sister Siobhan, takes her out onto her boat, then when Bridget wakes up, she’s gone, presumed dead.

Instead of going to the authorities, as she is already wanted, Bridget decides to assume her sister’s life.  It is somewhat comical how easily this is done, you would think Siobhan’s friends would know her better, but it proves for great intrigue.  I’d like to say that since they are twins, it is easier to believe, but I don’t have a frame of reference for that.

As Bridget continues her life as her sister, things get considerably more complicated as it turns out that not only will witness protection be looking for her, but Siobhan is in some other trouble, as people are looking for her as well.

The story is well written, the characters are believable, but more than anything, Gellar is amazing.  No matter the weak writing, at times, she brings the project up to a much higher level and I find myself frustrated that both Glee and the Ringer will be on tonight at the same time, as well as the Washington Capitals game.  Not to mention the fact that I’m dying to get my hands on Gears of War 3.  Release Tuesday couldn’t be more inconvenient.

If you haven’t, take a moment and give The Ringer a look, if nothing else, all the Buffy fans out there owe it to Sarah Michelle Gellar to help her fledgling new show off the ground.

It is Tough Being Right

I’ve been a long-time Supernatural fan, but now that I’ve seen the finale, lame.  I’m usually more verbose, I realise, but this was just pathetic.  The handful of you that might watch this may not want to be spoiled, but needless to say, the ending lacked any, well, any thing.

The basic premise so far was that there was a battle for heaven, and while that sounds like literary gold, it was played up like a teen slasher.  I was waiting for the screaming character to come out brandishing a knife.  The characters lost what little depth they had and any show that centres around Jared Padalecki. is destined to fail.  There, I said it.  That’s really my beef here – he plays the same tired role in each scene.



Jared Crapalecki

I love Misha Collin and Jensen Ackles, but the ending of this past season really left a sour taste in my mouth.  I have little to no motivation to watch it next year, though I fear I will out of habit.  I believe, barring any miracles (a pun considering the content), this next season will be the last one we see of Supernatural, and rightfully so.

Jump the Shark

We’ve all heard the term; we all know what it means.  When a TV show jumps the shark, it means that it has passed its prime.  The best days are already on DVD and the coming ones will potentially be torturous.  Two shows I watch avidly are hitting the end of their 6^th seasons: Bones and Supernatural.

I picked up on both late, watching Supernatural well after it debuted in its first season, but catching Bones in its fourth season.  Of the two, Bones is easier to follow; most of the stories are stand-alone events.  With Supernatural, once the series reached its fourth season, the mythology of the story was prevalent is almost every episode.

Of the two, I think Supernatural, and not Bones, has already jumped the shark.  I waited throughout this last year, on average, after about five years, most things get tired, including TV shows.  At the end of the fifth season for Supernatural, the viewers catch the older of the two brothers, Dean, attempting to lead a normal life.  At the end of the fifth season of Bones, the characters go their separate ways and are parted for a stipulated year, as is done in Supernatural as well if I’m not mistaken.

As both stories pick up, a brief overview is covered for what the characters are doing.  While Bones brings the characters back together in a seemingly logical manner, Supernatural continues to push the boundaries, reintroducing a couple characters and changing their behaviours.  While this behaviour is explained away as the season goes on, and it is a show that requires you to believe more than most, it is still too far.

The season finale is on tonight for Supernatural, so I’m curious, but have read some spoilers from Entertainment Weekly, so I have a vague idea, but with this show there’s really no certainty.

With the Bones finale from last night, not too give too much away, the viewers can a partial resolution to a question and then a base from which to work for the next season.  It was a great final episode.  The writing and characters are all realistic and not all likeable, there is something for everyone.

The smaller cast in Supernatural hamstrings it from having a wider appeal, but that makes sense give one is on the fledgling CW and the other on the often controversial Fox.

I’ll have to revisit this topic next week after I’ve seen the second finale.  I am hoping it packs a good punch.  Supernatural tends to lag in the middle of the season, but often ends strong.  Bones is pretty consistent throughout.

Short-Lived, But Not Short on Promise

As a long-time Batman fan, mostly of the animated series from the early 1990’s, I find myself, nowadays looking for something to replace it.  Cartoon Network has various choices, but something about the animation and story-telling does nothing for me.  I was either late or early to work, I’m not sure which when I stumbled upon the Hub channel and saw Batman Beyond on. Granted, I know this show has long since stopped running, but it was a refreshing take on something that was so pivotal to the success of the early Batman cartoon.

If I can take you back down memory lane, the original Batman cartoon featured superb voice acting and engrossing story-telling.  The cartoon chronicled Batman through the middle part of his career and allowed the viewer to watch him train a protégé as well as watch that same protégé grow up and move on.

In the next iteration of Batman, Batman Beyond, the viewer is taken into the future where Bruce Wayne no longer dons the cap and cowl, having realised that his body has betrayed him, in a manner of speaking, and he can’t trust himself to defend the night as he did before.  As circumstances develop, Bruce has a run-in with the person who will become the next Batman, Terry McGinnis.  Terry loses his father and steals the bat suite from Batman, before proving that he is after the same cause that Bruce has been.  It takes some time, but the friendship develops.

Without going into more detail, this cartoon captures everything that is great about Batman and brings it into the next century.  The stories are written by the same pairing who did the acclaimed cartoon series from the 1990’s, and the look and feel, as well as voices, all match.

What makes this cartoon stand out from other cartoons is that it isn’t cartoon-y.  While we can all enjoy some morality with The Simpsons or even SpongeBob, both have the bright colours and child-like quality that separate them from anything for adults.  It is these Batman cartoons that are so different from anything else out there.  Even the modernised versions of Justice League don’t capture what has really become a mainstay with cartoons related to Batman: realism.

The Batman cartoons are real.  If he gets hit, exploded, shot at, he gets hurt.  Not like Superman who bullets bounce off of or Green Lantern who can make a shield appears out of nowhere.  Batman has gadgets, sure, but even those don’t have the Acme feel to them.

I’m rambling about this cartoon, the sequel more than the original, because it takes real life situations and doesn’t trivialise them, things happen, life happens.  And while we all may say we don’t want to deal with reality, sometimes it is nice to watch something and have it mimic reality in its own way. 

Memory Lane

I haven’t watched a good cartoon in a long time.  I am an avid Family Guy fan, but I’m not sure that counts.  When I say cartoon, I mean a classic Scooby Doo or the now ‘retired’ PowerPuff Girls or Dexter’s Laboratory.  Those were great cartoons.  They had heart, lessons to be learned and at least one character to identify with.

When I was little, I could hardly go a day without watching/reading something Scooby Doo related.  Recently, I purchased a Mystery Machine box set of DVD’s, but its in the queue, way at the end too…but I do have the complete PowerPuff Girls Series and I am waiting it out for the Dexter’s Lab one.  I recently came across a discussion on Amazon about how greedy companies like Disney are. The reason we haven’t seen the next volumes for Chip and Dale or Ducktales is because they didn’t see enough sales on the previous sets.  I realise there has to be a cost benefit analysis, but as one of my other favourite cartoons finally made it to DVD, Pirates of the Dark Water, I wonder why they can’t use a Field of Dreams approach to things.  If you make it, people will buy it.

Honestly though, even in limited release, the people who want it will grab it, and the people who miss it, will pay anything to get it once it’s no longer available.  It’s really a win-win scenario, I think.

I am also a big Snoopy fan, if you don’t know me, this might be big news, but I do think I have the largest Met Life Snoopy collection this side of the world.  But I have noticed quite a few great Snoopy specials haven’t made it to DVD.  Most notable of those, one that made me cry even when I was a kid was Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown.  This cartoon had everything in it.  Good kids, bad kids and a great story that was about the whole Peanuts crew, not just my beloved Snoopy.  This movie is a heart-warming sort of story about doing the right thing, working together and being selfless. 

I feel like there aren’t cartoons like this out anymore.  Now it’s special effects and weak stories that rule the day.  Family Guy is great for its current events sort of humour, but really brings little else to the table.  If you want a wholesome cartoon, then you have to watch Boomerang for something of value.  For now, I guess I’ll have to get my cartoon fix from DVD’s.

Keeps Me Coming Back for More

I partake in few regular shows on TV.  I claim I don’t have the time, but I think this is more of a sign of my lack of commitment.  I do love watching live sports, and now that I’m addicted to our hometown Washington Capitals, I find myself having less and less time to devote to TV shows.

Right now, I stick with the hilarious Family Guy, the sexy boys from Supernatural and the compelling Bones.  I miss Lost already.  Of the three current faves, I am going to spotlight Bones.  In the mid-season finale this year, ‘The Doctor in the Photo,’ the viewer is treated to an episode where we see Dr. Brennan over-identify with the victim.  I may be getting ahead of myself, in this show; the viewers follow an FBI Agent, Booth, who works with a renowned anthropologist, Dr. Brennan to solve missing persons/homicides.

The story and cast has evolved a great amount since its inception.  The driving force for this show isn’t so much the story as the characters, which are all believable and viewers can identify with them.  I didn’t think much of the show the first time I saw it, but it left me wanting more, which was why I came back.  I have since watched all of the episodes and have them on DVD/Blu-Ray.

As I started off, in the mid-season finale, the story finally comes to a head, in a manner of speaking.  Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, at the end of the last season, confront their feelings, but Brennan tells Booth she can’t handle the intimacy, and the season ends with the characters all parting ways for a year.  When Booth returns, as one would expect, he’s in a committed relationship, and Brennan seems troubled by this throughout.  Their relationship grows increasingly tense as the season progresses, and ultimately Brennan begins to realise her mistake.

In ‘The Doctor in the Photo,’ Brennan is confronted by a person she overly identifies with.  The writers and director, in a very clever ploy, go so far as to make the deceased doctor both look and sound like Dr. Brennan, giving the illusion that she is investigating her own death.  It is a slight homage to Dicken’s Christmas Carol, getting a glimpse of what could happen if she continues down the path she’s on.

At some point, the plot begins to veer away from the usual Bones plot, solely following Dr. Brennan and minimising the other characters.  Again, I’d argue that this helps achieve the effect that is needed, if she continues being alone, focusing only on her work, she’ll never be happy.  And once she makes that realisation, the story comes to a close.

She confronts Booth, about her feelings, and he rebuffs her, however gently, she’s brought to tears, a rare sight for the good doctor.  I was really affected by this episode; it threw me for a loop at every turn.  What made it so good was that it didn’t stick to the norm, it couldn’t, but by that same token, the oneness of it made it memorable.  The show has produced countless memorable episodes, but this one has staying power.  It is so rare to see both the two main protagonists develop into a relationship like this and have it be true and honest.  I think this really says a lot about Fox for continuing the show and Kathy Reichs, whom Dr. Brennan is based on, for keeping the stories and characters compelling.  This is by far one of the best kept secret shows around and as I watched the first new episode for the new season last night, it was good, but it does set things up for something more compelling as the season goes on, definitely not one to miss.  Colour to Yellow and Draw Four.