Sons of Anarchy is a hard show to grade. If you've reached season 5, you know what the show is about and have accepted its faults (it has plenty of them). Basically, if you've reached this far, you are at the point to where if you find it enjoyable, it's a good show. And that's where I'm at.
If I tried to critique and analyze this show (which I will anyway), the show falls apart. If you expect these characters to do logical things, the show falls apart. (That's not entirely fair. Certain characters do logical things; others do thing based on the needs of the plot). It reminds me of the latter seasons of Dexter except it it is far more interesting, better-acted, and less reliant on its star. By that I mean that most of the plots spring up by some illogical character action, plot hole, or nonsensical shit. But it's usually less obvious than Dexter about it so you can really ignore it if you want to.
You cannot take this show too seriously. I didn't count, but nearly every episode had a car chase and a gunfight (where like one person gets shot in close range). It's that kind of show. Sometimes it manages to be deeply affecting, shocking, or sad. It usually depends on how much you care about the character (or how well-written the character is in the case of Clay Morrow).
Sons of Anarchy is a somewhat infuriating show though because it sometimes seems capable of so much more. Season 5 is the best season since the second season and it still doesn't really come close. But it's still damn entertaining. And I have to admit that if each season leads up to a season finale as satisfying as this one was, well I will keep enjoying this show.
The really confusing part of this season was the fact that it felt like a lot of the early episodes were filler. That's confusing because Sutter went overboard on the last four episodes making them 60 minutes! Seriously, I loved the final four episodes, but I see no reason why they couldn't have replaced some of the crap in the early parts of the season. Shedding about 72 minutes off the show would have helped it, not hurt it.
It's much better to ignore a character then give them a shitty story. That's basically what they did for Gemma and Tara in the first eight or so episodes. They were a drag on this season with just about the same exact storyline they've been repeating for the previous four seasons. And then they finally gave both characters meaningful things to do, which of course Katey Segal and Maggie Siff nail. The beginning of their stories in this season prevents me from unequivocally loving this season. Like I said, they could have easily avoided this by shedding some time. Sons is a show that I think would benefit from a tight schedule
Alright this is where spoilers in this review will come so if you haven't seen season five, and honestly why are you reading this at all if you haven't, stop reading now. Ok with that necessary warning out of the way, I'll continue the rest of the review.
While I may complain about its faults, there are things I loved about this season. I loved Jackson Teller's transformation into being a despicable, terrible person. While Jax will not exactly be compared to Walter White or Tony Soprano as an anti-hero, he's still a pretty interesting and well-written character. I have bought his gradual decline as a human being. The actions around him that have pushed him to this point seem like good reasons why his character (as in qualities of an individual) would deteriorate.
A season after being a caricature of a human being, I loved Clay Morrow's return as a fully formed character who the audience sympathizes with. I'm not sure his plans to destroy the club really make sense, but Ron Pearlman sells it. Gemma and Juice's betrayal of Clay made his cop-out non-death last season worth it. I had to remind myself that Clay deserved every bit of this when he's arrested, because it's almost impossible not to feel terrible for the guy in that scene.
The two big guest stars, story-wise, were both amazing characters and featured great acting. Harold Perrineau, as Damon Pope, is magnetic and cool. I never would have imagined him playing a believable crime lord after Lost. But he pulls it off and is actually the best part of some of the episodes. Another great guest star is Jimmy Smits as Nero Padilla. His integration into the club was messy in my opinion, but they took the character in a place I didn't expect. I'm looking forward to seeing him in the new season.
Theo Rossi as Juice is a damn good actor. I can't honestly say he's well-written as a character and yet I didn't want him to die at all and a lot of tension happened for my fear of his death. Kim Coates as Tig stands out for two scenes. The scene where his daughter is burned alive was played strangely. I don't mean that in a good way either. The other scene was when Jax betrayed Tig at the end. He played that perfectly. That's what makes the other scene strange, because I know Coates is a good actor. The last actor I'll specifically mention as standing out is Tommy Flanagan as Chibs even though you can't really understand him. (I guess I should mention Dayton Callie as Unser who's always great)
Overall, I thought the first eight or so episodes veered wildly between great and annoying. Then it's like a light switch clicked and the show became a different show. It became what the potential for this show is. This could have been a season-long thing honestly if they just cut down on the minutes. The show is unnecessarily lengthy when there were scenes that should have been cut and stories that should have been dropped. (Ex: Though it finally led somewhere in the finale, Wendy Teller wanting custody of her kids just failed entirely as a compelling story. I could not give a fuck less about her or Abel honestly)
But hey, Sons is about extremes. You rarely feel indifference about this show. You either love it or you hate it. And I'm pretty sure that's what Kurt Sutter is going for. Obviously he wants you to love it, but he probably would rather you feel emotion at all than nothing. And he succeeds on that point.
Overall, Season 5 does what Sons of Anarchy does best more often than it does what Sons of Anarchy does worst. Then there's that kickass finale, which nearly redeems the horrible storylines and just elevates the entire season on its own. I'm knocking this down for the first eight episodes though. I'm listing my grades for each season including a revised one for Season 3 which was too generous.
Season 1 - A-
Season 2 - A
Season 3 - B-
Season 4- B
Season 5 - B+
Hopefully, Season 6 continues the upward trend?
Playlist (Rap-less for first time)
1. "Self Esteem" - Offspring
2. "Lit Up" - The National
3. "Young Blood" - The Naked and the Famous
4. "Unforgettable" - Nat King Cole ft. Natalie Cole
5. "Secrets" - One Republic
Friday, November 29, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Friends: The Holiday Episodes (S1: E9-10, 14)
Ah, it's a sitcom tradition to have the characters celebrate various holidays together. It makes sense because the holidays are times that drive people closer together... and drive people nuts. That combination is perfect for sitcoms that need an excuse to get all of its characters into one place and then have them squabble. I had this holiday-themed post planned, but it's just good luck that it falls the week before Thanksgiving.
Of course, one of the holidays in this season is Thanksgiving. They also dealt with News Year, which actually strikes me as the most obvious holiday for a series about a close-knit group of friends. Thanksgiving is for families, New Years is for friends. Then lastly, I skipped a few episodes to get to their Valentine's episode, also a pretty natural holiday to focus on given how much emphasis is placed on relationships in this show.
"The One Where the Underdog Gets Away"
I really wish the first ten or so minutes of this episode were as good as the last ten or so minutes. This episode was short on humor compared to the rest of the episodes, but when they get locked out of their door, it becomes strangely compelling. Some of the yelling - and really most of those last few minutes are just Monica yelling - isn't necessarily funny, but it just strikes as true.
Thanksgiving has a very high standard that pretty much everyone has. It's also rooted in tradition for most families so you can rely on getting roughly the same meal at the same place with the same people every year. Now, Monica suddenly has the burden of five other people's traditions and high expectations. Every single thing she yells is 100% true and I feel the urge to thank my parents for making Thanksgiving the way it is as a result. I don't think that was the purpose of the episode, but that's what I'm taking from it.
Anyway, Ross goes to find a skull that Carol borrowed - it could have literally been anything, the writers just needed an excuse to get Ross over there - and finds out that Susan has been talking to the baby through Carol's stomach. Ross doesn't buy it, but does it anyway because he's jealous. Ross is kind of a whiny bitch in this episode. Although I will say it does make sense that he would talk to the baby anyway, because he feels left out, which of course he is. But his incessant whining about Monica not making Thanksgiving the way their mom did was frankly annoying as shit. Maybe that's why Monica's rant really worked for me.
So Ross talking to the baby fell almost completely flat for me, humor-wise. I have to give the writers a little respect for trying to give an update on the baby situation, but almost nothing was funny and again Ross ends up looking badly (although mostly not due to this story line).
There's not really a plot, or rather the plot is just a collection of things that happens to allow the friends to be forced to have Thanksgiving together. They actually came up with some pretty great reasons. Just plain good writing. Ross and Monica get the ball rolling because their parents are on vacation. This is oddly enough the weakest reasoning of the six to me.
Chandler doesn't participate in Thanksgiving because of his childhood experience. They've strongly hinted at Chandler's terrible childhood in past episodes and I think this one is the first to just give us a good example. Phoebe's reasoning is shaky, but so far they've really beaten into the ground that's she's quirky and different so her grandmother's boyfriend celebrating Thanksgiving in December isn't out of nowhere at least.
Rachel and Joey's problems are the real gems if you ask me though. Of course Rachel's family goes skiing every Thanksgiving and since Rachel is cut off, she needs money for the flight. In the opening scene, her one-time boss Terry didn't really seem funny to me. It's hard to mess up him telling Rachel what an awful waitress she was, but he did. I can imagine Matthew Perry making this funny and I have to blame the actor for why it's not funny.
So Rachel fails at collecting the money so the friends give her $100. I didn't know they could make "Swoop, swoop, swoop" as funny as it was, but it was funnier each time they said it. (It was actually not funny at all at first, but then it got funny I should say).
Joey, on the other hand, was modeling for a disease, and he gets stuck with being the poster child for venereal diseases. That girl he talked with on the subway was remarkably forward. I think the writers overemphasized it in order to show how much the ad ruined it for Joey. Anyway, when he turns around and sees the ad, I lose it. Then, in the closing credits, he tries ripping off the bottom - because of course Joey still wants to be on an ad - and he keeps getting terrible associations like "stop wife beaters"and "hemorrhoids."
And to clear up the argument between Rachel and Monica, she clearly asked "Got the keys?" The way Rachel says "Okay" is kind of the perfect combination to where I can imagine Monica thinking Rachel is getting the keys and Rachel saying it meaning... well "okay." It's all-around terrible communication.
Lastly, this is a terrible episode title. My God, Friends writers, does anyone think of the underdog getting away when thinking of this episode? I saw the title and knew it was about Thanksgiving, but had no idea what it was about.
Grade - B+
"The One With the Monkey"
Holy crap. This is the exact same episode as the Thanksgiving episode thematically speaking. The friends all have plans for the holiday and they all fall through before the big date. The difference is that in the Thanksgiving episode, they can't be with their families and in the new year's episode, they have no one to kiss. Otherwise, it is the exact same premise.
This episode tried to make the audience care about two relationships that formed in this very episode. Well, I'm not so sure they tried to make us care about Ross' relationship with the monkey, but they certainly acted like he's had a monkey for a while. The other relationship is between David and Phoebe, who get together and break up in the same episode.
Hank Azaria, who plays David, is awesome so this story works. It has no business working. I don't know how long the time period is between them meeting and New Years, but it's got to be less than a month. The emotional resonance the writers were asking for just wasn't there, because this relationship lasted less than 20 minutes in our minds. But it still works and is probably a reason why they bring him back in Season.... 9-10?
Getting them together was an unnecessary contrivance. So Phoebe is expected to play for a coffee shop and literally no one is allowed to talk during this performance? That's pretty much what the show is expecting us to believe - at least this one time. Because she calls him out - and while I understand how annoying it is to play music with people talking (actually I don't, but just go with it), this just seems like something you have to deal with given the setting. And there is no way they were talking THAT loud.
Anyway, on to the good stuff. I essentially like that the two major scenes we see with Phoebe and David has Phoebe playing the role of David. Instead of writing what a typical guy would do in a romance fantasy, they have Phoebe writing it. She tells David to clear the counter and throw her on the counter, which of course he does very delicately. (Though to be fair, there was a computer on there)
Then, so the audience doesn't think Phoebe is a bitch for making him abandon his dream to go to Minsk, she has to initiate the breakup. It's actually kind of sweet when she argues with hypothetical David with how she is supposed to respond. So count me a fan of Phoebe-David (sorry though Hank, I'm definitely pro-Paul Rudd in Phoebe relationships)
The other was Ross and the monkey. In theory, having a character complain about an animal like it was a real roommate is a solid concept. I guess it doesn't translate well. The whining from Ross became really annoying. Get over it Ross. It's a fucking monkey. What did you expect?
Anyway, it probably doesn't work most of all, because he gets the monkey in this episode. Like they should have done this story after a few appearances by the monkey. The parody of the situation is that Ross is tired of his monkey. But it's been a few weeks (if that). To work like a real parody, it needs to have been a few months or so. It just doesn't work and the humor falls flat.
As far as the reasons why each character doesn't have someone to kiss at the end, I'll go through each character and why they ended up with no one. Rachel's was funny and appropriate, because she should stop being with the goddamn plot contrivance that is Paolo. This works better on binge watching, but at the time this implies they've been together for months. How? He barely speaks English. So I enjoyed a storyline that essentially punished her for still being with him.
Chandler's story works because Janice. Is there really that much pressure to have someone to kiss on New Years? I guess I'll accept that in 1994 New York there was. If I can accept that, I can REALLY buy Chandler succumbing so easily, because that's the type of person he is. Joey's situation made no sense. Ok, his date brought kids fine. (It was sort of expected after finding out she was a mom) But why the hell did she sleep with the scientist guy? Oh well, we have no idea how to make Joey and her not kiss at midnight, let's just do this completely implausible thing.
Having fun Bobby have a death in his family was hilarious to me so kudos for that decision. I also like how they just didn't even have Ross try to get a date. Everyone else gets dates, he realizes he's the only one who won't, but still he's just like "Fuck it, I'm going with a monkey." Man, I'm trying to figure out how they get from season one Ross to later seasons Ross. Totally different characters.
Grade - C+
"The One with the Candy Hearts"
Grade - B+
"The One With the Monkey"
Holy crap. This is the exact same episode as the Thanksgiving episode thematically speaking. The friends all have plans for the holiday and they all fall through before the big date. The difference is that in the Thanksgiving episode, they can't be with their families and in the new year's episode, they have no one to kiss. Otherwise, it is the exact same premise.
This episode tried to make the audience care about two relationships that formed in this very episode. Well, I'm not so sure they tried to make us care about Ross' relationship with the monkey, but they certainly acted like he's had a monkey for a while. The other relationship is between David and Phoebe, who get together and break up in the same episode.
Hank Azaria, who plays David, is awesome so this story works. It has no business working. I don't know how long the time period is between them meeting and New Years, but it's got to be less than a month. The emotional resonance the writers were asking for just wasn't there, because this relationship lasted less than 20 minutes in our minds. But it still works and is probably a reason why they bring him back in Season.... 9-10?
Getting them together was an unnecessary contrivance. So Phoebe is expected to play for a coffee shop and literally no one is allowed to talk during this performance? That's pretty much what the show is expecting us to believe - at least this one time. Because she calls him out - and while I understand how annoying it is to play music with people talking (actually I don't, but just go with it), this just seems like something you have to deal with given the setting. And there is no way they were talking THAT loud.
Anyway, on to the good stuff. I essentially like that the two major scenes we see with Phoebe and David has Phoebe playing the role of David. Instead of writing what a typical guy would do in a romance fantasy, they have Phoebe writing it. She tells David to clear the counter and throw her on the counter, which of course he does very delicately. (Though to be fair, there was a computer on there)
Then, so the audience doesn't think Phoebe is a bitch for making him abandon his dream to go to Minsk, she has to initiate the breakup. It's actually kind of sweet when she argues with hypothetical David with how she is supposed to respond. So count me a fan of Phoebe-David (sorry though Hank, I'm definitely pro-Paul Rudd in Phoebe relationships)
The other was Ross and the monkey. In theory, having a character complain about an animal like it was a real roommate is a solid concept. I guess it doesn't translate well. The whining from Ross became really annoying. Get over it Ross. It's a fucking monkey. What did you expect?
Anyway, it probably doesn't work most of all, because he gets the monkey in this episode. Like they should have done this story after a few appearances by the monkey. The parody of the situation is that Ross is tired of his monkey. But it's been a few weeks (if that). To work like a real parody, it needs to have been a few months or so. It just doesn't work and the humor falls flat.
As far as the reasons why each character doesn't have someone to kiss at the end, I'll go through each character and why they ended up with no one. Rachel's was funny and appropriate, because she should stop being with the goddamn plot contrivance that is Paolo. This works better on binge watching, but at the time this implies they've been together for months. How? He barely speaks English. So I enjoyed a storyline that essentially punished her for still being with him.
Chandler's story works because Janice. Is there really that much pressure to have someone to kiss on New Years? I guess I'll accept that in 1994 New York there was. If I can accept that, I can REALLY buy Chandler succumbing so easily, because that's the type of person he is. Joey's situation made no sense. Ok, his date brought kids fine. (It was sort of expected after finding out she was a mom) But why the hell did she sleep with the scientist guy? Oh well, we have no idea how to make Joey and her not kiss at midnight, let's just do this completely implausible thing.
Having fun Bobby have a death in his family was hilarious to me so kudos for that decision. I also like how they just didn't even have Ross try to get a date. Everyone else gets dates, he realizes he's the only one who won't, but still he's just like "Fuck it, I'm going with a monkey." Man, I'm trying to figure out how they get from season one Ross to later seasons Ross. Totally different characters.
Grade - C+
"The One with the Candy Hearts"
And here's the Valentine's Day episode, which is shockingly different than the previous two holiday episodes. I kid, I kid. This is another Chandler-Janice story so of course it works. Seriously, give Matthew Perry anything in this season and he'll make it funny. I had trouble quoting any lines for this episode, but laughed a lot. It had a lot to do with his movements and the way he said things that don't come across as funny on paper.
Well, Joey is certainly a grade A asshole in this episode. Holy crap, he basically forces Chandler to go on a date with him and then bails on him knowing full well Chandler doesn't want to be there. It's kind of in character, but I'd hope even womanizing men like him would be able to have their friends in mind.
Chandler ends up being a nice friend and going of course. And of course he stays with Janice at the date because he's not an asshole. The credit card thing is smart to put in the plot so both of them have a reason to stay (free food!) and a reason to hook up (alcohol). But Joey is pretty broke and him paying for the meal despite his actions are completely inconsistent with his character.
So of course Chandler and Janice get together. Then it borders on absurdity when Janice and Chandler walk out, and eventually all the friends say hi to Janice. It's actually kind of funny in that the more people that see Janice, the more absurd the scene becomes. And then there's Chandler's responses to everything ranging from sarcastic to begging her to leave. Most of them funny.
Then Chandler breaks up with Janice and she insists this isn't the end - which it isn't of course. I like how hard Chandler tries to tell her that it is in fact over. So this isn't the last we see of Janice! She appears in 16 more episodes! But it is the last time in this season.
Maggie Wheeler will always be remembered for playing Janice. In fact, this role kind of started her semi-decent career of guest-starring on comedy television shows. After this show, she ended up having recurring roles in Ellen, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Archer. I have to wonder if this show typecast her or helped her somewhat unimpressive career become what it was. Although, there is really nothing to indicate she's all that good of an actress anyway who deserved better than this very respectable career (one that I would take if I became an actor). But... in her first episode, there's no reason to believe she would have returned if Wheeler didn't make it memorable.
This episode was written by Bill Lawrence, his only credit episode on this show. He later went on to create Spin City, Scrubs, and Cougar Town. That's a decent stable of shows (though I've never seen Cougar Town) so it's not a surprise that this is a pretty good episode. In addition to Janice subplot, Ross tries to go on a date for the first time in nine years.
Man, they REALLY changed his character. Ross is, as of this episode, is a man who is lost who doesn't know how to function after he's been with the same woman for years. He has next to no experience with woman. And explaining the jet lag of dogs was just painful to listen to. It was a very believable bad date.
Surprisingly, they treated this material very well. The woman wasn't insane, it was Ross who messed up the date. But the way he messed up is really understandable in that he doesn't really know what to do. Hell, the woman left and the audience can't even blame her because he had effectively ignored her.
The scene where Ross tries to get Carol to get back together with him was a very real and sympathetic scene. You get what he's going through. He doesn't want to go on dates, he just wants everything to be easy. I know Ross became funnier in the later seasons, but this version of Ross was a better character. This portion of the episode was just extremely well-written.
The last subplot? Eh. I'm not going to waste too many words with it, but basically Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel have a ritual to burn ex-boyfriends, let the fire get out of hand, and then flirt with jackass fireman. It wasn't really funny, or revealing, or anything to me. I don't even know how to describe my feelings towards it because it elicit nothing. Not even anger or disgust or displeasure. Just boring.
Well I got to give this a pretty good grade, but it's too bad one subplot did literally nothing for me at all.
Grade - B+
Well, Joey is certainly a grade A asshole in this episode. Holy crap, he basically forces Chandler to go on a date with him and then bails on him knowing full well Chandler doesn't want to be there. It's kind of in character, but I'd hope even womanizing men like him would be able to have their friends in mind.
Chandler ends up being a nice friend and going of course. And of course he stays with Janice at the date because he's not an asshole. The credit card thing is smart to put in the plot so both of them have a reason to stay (free food!) and a reason to hook up (alcohol). But Joey is pretty broke and him paying for the meal despite his actions are completely inconsistent with his character.
So of course Chandler and Janice get together. Then it borders on absurdity when Janice and Chandler walk out, and eventually all the friends say hi to Janice. It's actually kind of funny in that the more people that see Janice, the more absurd the scene becomes. And then there's Chandler's responses to everything ranging from sarcastic to begging her to leave. Most of them funny.
Then Chandler breaks up with Janice and she insists this isn't the end - which it isn't of course. I like how hard Chandler tries to tell her that it is in fact over. So this isn't the last we see of Janice! She appears in 16 more episodes! But it is the last time in this season.
Maggie Wheeler will always be remembered for playing Janice. In fact, this role kind of started her semi-decent career of guest-starring on comedy television shows. After this show, she ended up having recurring roles in Ellen, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Archer. I have to wonder if this show typecast her or helped her somewhat unimpressive career become what it was. Although, there is really nothing to indicate she's all that good of an actress anyway who deserved better than this very respectable career (one that I would take if I became an actor). But... in her first episode, there's no reason to believe she would have returned if Wheeler didn't make it memorable.
This episode was written by Bill Lawrence, his only credit episode on this show. He later went on to create Spin City, Scrubs, and Cougar Town. That's a decent stable of shows (though I've never seen Cougar Town) so it's not a surprise that this is a pretty good episode. In addition to Janice subplot, Ross tries to go on a date for the first time in nine years.
Man, they REALLY changed his character. Ross is, as of this episode, is a man who is lost who doesn't know how to function after he's been with the same woman for years. He has next to no experience with woman. And explaining the jet lag of dogs was just painful to listen to. It was a very believable bad date.
Surprisingly, they treated this material very well. The woman wasn't insane, it was Ross who messed up the date. But the way he messed up is really understandable in that he doesn't really know what to do. Hell, the woman left and the audience can't even blame her because he had effectively ignored her.
The scene where Ross tries to get Carol to get back together with him was a very real and sympathetic scene. You get what he's going through. He doesn't want to go on dates, he just wants everything to be easy. I know Ross became funnier in the later seasons, but this version of Ross was a better character. This portion of the episode was just extremely well-written.
The last subplot? Eh. I'm not going to waste too many words with it, but basically Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel have a ritual to burn ex-boyfriends, let the fire get out of hand, and then flirt with jackass fireman. It wasn't really funny, or revealing, or anything to me. I don't even know how to describe my feelings towards it because it elicit nothing. Not even anger or disgust or displeasure. Just boring.
Well I got to give this a pretty good grade, but it's too bad one subplot did literally nothing for me at all.
Grade - B+
Quotes
"Ross, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but BACK OFF" - Phoebe
"Ok Monica only dogs can hear you now" - Chandler
"Oh, you got the bigger half, what did you wish for?" - Phoebe
"The bigger half" - Joey
"I have twelve new songs about my mother's suicide and one about a snowman." - Phoebe
"I made a smile and eyes of coal, the smile was so bewitching. How was I supposed to know that my mom was dead in the kitchen?" - A really catchy, yet disturbing song by Phoebe
"I think that bitch cracked my tooth" - Rachel after Ross goes on about him and his monkey growing apart
"Janice is going to go away now" - Chandler desperately trying to get Janice to leave
"Now we need the semen of a righteous man" - Phoebe in her ritual
"Number three, learn to let go of the anger and try to love yourself" - helpful fireman advice
Playlist
1. "Ab Soul's Intro" - Terrace Martin ft. Ab Soul
2. "Champagne Supernova" - Oasis
3. "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" - The Temptations
4. "Hey Judas" - Black Star Riders
5. "Keep Ya Head Up" - Tupac
"I made a smile and eyes of coal, the smile was so bewitching. How was I supposed to know that my mom was dead in the kitchen?" - A really catchy, yet disturbing song by Phoebe
"I think that bitch cracked my tooth" - Rachel after Ross goes on about him and his monkey growing apart
"Janice is going to go away now" - Chandler desperately trying to get Janice to leave
"Now we need the semen of a righteous man" - Phoebe in her ritual
"Number three, learn to let go of the anger and try to love yourself" - helpful fireman advice
Playlist
1. "Ab Soul's Intro" - Terrace Martin ft. Ab Soul
2. "Champagne Supernova" - Oasis
3. "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" - The Temptations
4. "Hey Judas" - Black Star Riders
5. "Keep Ya Head Up" - Tupac
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Rewind: Justified S1 Review
For anybody who has seen this show, I'll state the obvious in saying Justified is a really good show. I came into this show with pretty high expectations, although little idea of what the show would be like. Needless to say, the show exceeded those expectations. This just quickly established itself as one of my favorite shows of all time in fact. It's that good.
There's no such thing as too much praise when it comes to talking about Timothy Olyphant as Deputy US Marshall Raylan Givens. He's not the only reason this show is good, but he's the reason even subpar episodes are compelling. I hadn't really watched Olyphant in much before this and now consider myself an unabashed fan of his.
Olyphant has a certain devilish charm that is probably every man's dream. His delivery, combined with the excellent dialogue, could get me to voluntarily confess to a crime I didn't commit. And I'd walk away feeling like he was doing me a favor. I'm not trying to come across like he's an infallible superhero, In fact, the facade of exterior toughness quickly reveals itself to be... well a facade.
Raylan's is a trigger-happy lawman whether he wants to admit it or not. It may seem like he wants to resolve the conflict at hand without firing his weapon, but there's this sense that he really just wants to shoot to release his well-hidden anger. He's a bit of a renegade, which means he connects more to criminals than his fellow cops.
One of those criminals is Boyd Crowder, a master manipulator, played by Walton Goggins. Now I've never seen The Shield - lord knows I've heard enough about how good he was in that - but finally I get a taste of that praise. In the first episode, he's a Neo Nazi leader, but he's a deeper character than that. He seems more of an opportunistic criminal who has this masterful ability to lead impressionable, dumb rednecks. This becomes more apparent as the season goes on, but really Goggins makes him interesting immediately.
Justified has probably the best dialogue of any show I've ever seen. These characters speak in a completely different way than I've ever heard on television, and yet it's surprisingly realistic. The way the characters choose their phrasing and weave their words together is utterly amazing. This series is based off the short novel "Fire in the Hole" by Elmore Leonard. They largely steal the pilot from that text, but it seems they found a way to capture his ability to parse words without seeming like a lesser imitator.
In case you're not sold on the show yet, another satisfying aspect of this show is the setting. It's set in Lexington, Kentucky - a version that is not exactly flattering to the town. It's basically Wild Wild West, may the best gunslinger win. Somehow, it has that culture and applies it to modern life without seeming - well outrageously implausible.
If there's a weakness to this show, it's that the rest of Given's law enforcement team is remarkably forgettable. The exception to this is Art Mullen's, Given's boss. Played by Nick Searcy, he has to toe that line between friends and keeping Givens in line. And he has to keep Givens in line a lot. There's two other main characters, a white guy and a black girl. They do have actual names, but really that's how I remember who they are. I don't actually know their names. (I could look it up and I did, but I wanted to illustrate just how forgettable they are)
But they are forgettable for a reason. This show is incredible at casting. There are an insane amount of great character actors whose name you can't place, but whose face you will surely recognize. Chris Ellis, Raymond J. Berry, Brett Cullen, Ray McKinnon, M.C. Gainey, Jere Burns, W. Earl Brown, Stephen Root. (That's not even mentioning Alan Ruck in his fantastic one episode stint or Tony Hale, who doesn't get much to do but BUSTER!)
The female characters could use some work too. It's not that they are written badly, but there's a huge disconnect between the two main female leads on this show.... and just about every other man. It's a bit alarming just because it's a hugely male-centric show, and the few female characters are underwhelming.
The majority of this season, with the exception of the last three episodes, was mostly procedural as well. That's kind of a weakness, but really I can't blame them for initiating us into this world slowly. I definitely liked the structure of this season more than Sons of Anarchy's structure, although SOA pretty much did the same thing the first season as well. But its still worth mentioning for people who must have serialized storytelling.
Overall, if you want to watch badasses at work, there's not much shows that do it better than Justified. If you like seeing the main protagonist take control of the situation and destroy the opponents in slick, smart ways, this show is definitely for you.
(Side note: For as good of a show as this is, the theme song to this is godawful. It grows on you but I think that's just because I associate it with good television, not on its own merits.)
Playlist
1. "Dead Man Shoes" - The Virginmarys
2. "Stripes" - Brandy Clark (first country song I've ever had on this)
3. "Villuminati" - J. Cole
4. "Surrender" - Cheap Trick
5. "My Iron Lung" - Radiohead
The majority of this season, with the exception of the last three episodes, was mostly procedural as well. That's kind of a weakness, but really I can't blame them for initiating us into this world slowly. I definitely liked the structure of this season more than Sons of Anarchy's structure, although SOA pretty much did the same thing the first season as well. But its still worth mentioning for people who must have serialized storytelling.
Overall, if you want to watch badasses at work, there's not much shows that do it better than Justified. If you like seeing the main protagonist take control of the situation and destroy the opponents in slick, smart ways, this show is definitely for you.
(Side note: For as good of a show as this is, the theme song to this is godawful. It grows on you but I think that's just because I associate it with good television, not on its own merits.)
Playlist
1. "Dead Man Shoes" - The Virginmarys
2. "Stripes" - Brandy Clark (first country song I've ever had on this)
3. "Villuminati" - J. Cole
4. "Surrender" - Cheap Trick
5. "My Iron Lung" - Radiohead
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Friends: The Post with the Parents (S1 E8, E11)
I'm really unhappy with how my last post on Friends turned out. It was lazy and mostly just recapping the episodes. I'm going to try to put more effort into the episodes. I wrote last week's post all on Sunday so I think that's why that post turned out so bland. This time I'll aim to only focus on one Friends episode a day so each episode has my full attention.
I'll also be talking about the writers of each episode and who directed it. I'm personally fascinated with how directors are chosen for television programs. There's some directors who are with a show for most of it's run. (That's not at all the case with Friends by the way; How I Met Your Mother is directed by the same person in 180 of its 193 episodes). There's some directors who literally direct one episode in the show's entire run. I just want to know how or why they choose directors and why there isn't more cases of directors focusing on just one show like HIMYM. Anyway, to the episodes!
"The One Where Nana Dies"
Written by the co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, this episode deals with both death and homosexuality in the same episode. In the opening scene, Chandler gets mistaken as gay by his co-worker. Apparently this isn't an uncommon thing for women to think when they first meet him.
At first, I was afraid that there was going to be rampant homophobia in this episode, but I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there's a very slight undertone that Chandler being gay is seen as a negative, but it's very slight. Also, this episode came three years before Ellen came out on her show so I do think context is important here. I wasn't fortunate enough to watch this episode live, but I'm fairly sure it was progressive at the time.
This story kind of still works, because it's not unbelievable that Chandler could be perceived as gay. The show actually makes fun of the fact that it's hard to pinpoint why it isn't a stretch. He has a certain "quality." Thankfully at this point in the show, the story takes kind of a different direction as they are dangerously skirting that line between homophobic and funny (though I'm guessing in 1994, that line was nonexistent).
I will say that there are actually no negative qualities mentioned in regards as to why Chandler is perceived as gay. They say he's smart and funny. I guess all gay people are smart and funny. (This is much better than the alternative though so that's not really a complaint). And then Chandler switches from worrying about people thinking he's gay to complaining that he wants to be set up with someone more suitable like Bryan.
Then there's really three definitive punchlines to this story that generate laugh out loud moments for me. When Chandler says "Well don't we all look nice. It's stuff like that isn't it?," it's funny both because that sounds like something Chandler would say and because most straight people don't say stuff like that. It's not that saying that is gay, but it's certainly not the stereotypical thing that a straight person would say. The other moment is when Ross, high on painkillers from literally falling into a grave, comes up to him and tells him it's ok to be gay in front of a pretty lady that Chandler was talking with. Lastly, Chandler is adamant that he could get a Bryan, and then Bryan walks in. It's incredibly predictable but somehow still really funny.
Given the time period, it wouldn't be surprising if there was homophobia in this episode. I'd argue that it looks pretty good still though all things considered. I just felt like addressing these things would be necessary especially given all that's changed since 1994 regarding gay rights. I think it holds up pretty well.
The other story is that Ross and Monica's grandmother died. This is a bit random and we've never met their grandmother so it's too hard to care a lot. But if the only reason for this was to bring back their parents, then that's the only reason I need personally. Since I'm only covering two episodes this week, I think it's the right time to talk about the casting choices of Elliot Gould and Christina Pickles.
Jack Gellar is a brilliant character. He's just the perfect parent for comedy. He's clueless, but he cares a lot about his kids. He's an oddball who's not hard to relate to. And of course Gould plays him so well. This show has some pretty great guest stars, but I don't think anyone ever manages to top the character of Jack Gellar. Then there's Christina Pickles, whose character annoys me, but as far as the actress herself, she definitely nails what the writing intends. I may not like the writing of her character, but Pickles was also an A+ casting decision.
What's funny is that the writers use the grandmother stealing Sweet N' Low's as the emotional impact of this episode. It personally works for me if only because my dad is the same exact way. Granted, I'd think of a million things before his Sweet N' Lows came to my mind, but it makes a personal connection to me I doubt anyone else had.
Also, I don't know if it's possible for someone to come back to life like the grandma did here, but I don't really care either. When Ross went to kiss her, I think everyone knew something was going to happen. I think it's actually more hilarious when you know it's coming, because it just sucks to be Ross.
As another point, I don't think this show was very well-known for deceiving your expectations. Hell, it's a very specific formula that it mostly sticks to for 10 seasons. But when Monica asks Jack if he's stalling because then he'll know she's really gone, you expect him to say yes. But no, Jack just says he hates shopping. Great twist on an old cliche.
Then at the end, they look at some old photos of their grandma. They make fun of Ross being naked, which wasn't that funny. What was funny was when Joey thought it was Monica. Also, it was kind of a sweet moment when they saw the photo of the "gang" of friends of her grandma and realized they had a great gang themselves.
A funny, heartfelt episode of Friends that featured no stretches of characters? It's receiving an A- not an A, because... I don't know, I don't think it's an upper echelon Friends episode.
Grade - A-
"The One with Mrs. Bing"
Written by Alexa Junge, who would later pen the fantastic "The One Where Everybody Finds Out," the one with Chandler's mom is a great episode of television. We delve more into the history of Chandler Bing, the scarred and cynical manchild. They explored this a little in the Thanksgiving episode, which I skipped, because I decided to connect some of these episodes with a common theme.
Morgan Fairchild, who plays Nora Bing, really owns this role. I'm not aware of anything else she has done, and honestly her IMDB history is quite unimpressive, but this was a piece of good casting. Of course, she has the looks necessary, but she also successfully portrays the image of a mom who can scar you for life.
This is the first episode written by Junge, and as far as first episodes go, one can only hope it's this good. The sitcom-y aspect of this episode is that Monica and Phoebe somewhat cause the accident of a good-looking man and cause him to go into a coma. This leads them to feel guilty naturally and so they make sure he's alright. One thing leads to another, and he becomes their ideal version of a man.
It's a decent parody of what I believe is women who meet a man and project their ideal vision
of their future husband onto that man. Then naturally that man doesn't meet their expectations and the cycle repeats. At least, that's my assumption. The first half kind of worked, but mostly didn't for me. But a decent parody that has a good payoff - and this has a good payoff - makes the entire plotline look better.
The payoff - for me at least - is when Phoebe is playing her song to the man in the coma. Monica tries to sneakily walk out and then Phoebe just abruptly ends the song and knocks over the microphone. That's not even the best part. Then the man wakes up and literally does nothing wrong. I mean how would you feel if you woke up from a coma and two people you didn't know were saying they clothed you, gave you presents, etc. To be fair, I guess, I hope I would do a little more than this guy, because if Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow were at my bed, I'd hope I'd muster more than "Thanks." (Though really what else to say?)
So the women berate him for not being this awesome, unrealistically irresistible guy. Then Phoebe mentions that she thought he was different, but she guesses that was just the coma. Boom. Punchline.
This is the return of Paolo, who gets more and more irritating each time his name is brought up or he's on screen. Like I get it the first time, but there is just no way they would still be together at this point. They are way too obviously stalling for the inevitable Ross-Rachel pairing. Mrs. Bing herself points out how Paolo is a goner soon.
So Ross gets stupid drunk - to try and get the image of Paolo and Rachel out of his mind. The sight gag of Ross getting out of the girls bathroom, noticing a girl walk out and that it's a girl's bathroom, and then kind of does a double take kills me. Then Ross and Nora make out. This actually made sense. Ross is drunk and vulnerable. Nora is free-spirited and the sort of person who would make out with her son's friend.
The show takes this opportunity to have Chandler stick up for himself and tell his mom off for once. It seems like an important character note. He's spent all of his life seeing his mom doing things like this and telling her off just feels like an important development.
Joey tells Ross he broke the code by getting with his friend's mom. But then he mentions that sisters are ok, but I am pretty positive that is NOT true. In fact, Chandler would hook up with Joey's sister later and that was seen as a pretty big betrayal. That's just one of many minor inconsistencies with the show.
In addition to digging deeper into Chandler's past, this episode was more hilarious than the average episode. And that's saying something coming from me who usually laughs a lot. This is just a Friends episode firing on all cylinders.
Grade - A
Quotes
"See, I don't believe in any of that. I think when you're dead, you're dead. You're gone. You're worm food." (Joey forgets this conversation came about because the Gellar Nana died leading to awkward silence) "So Chandler looks gay?"
"Well, don't we look nice all dressed up?" (looks at friends) "It's stuff like that isn't it?"
"And listen man, if you want to be gay, you be gay. Doesn't matter to me" - Ross on painkillers
"Now I'm depressed! .... even more than I was." - Jack Gellar after a bad outcome in the football game
"If I wanted to get a Bryan, I could get a Bryan. Hey Bryan." - Predictable yet still funny from Chandler
"I wish more men were like him." - Monica about an unconscious man they know nothing about
"I'm a fabulous mom. I bought my son his first condom." - Nora Bing on Leno
"And then he burst into flames." - Chandler
"Uhhhh, I'll just pee in the street." - Joey after seeing Ross and Mrs. Bing kissing
"Do they wait for me to kiss?" - Ross on Rachel-Paolo
"You know what? We thought you were different. But I guess it was just the coma." - Phoebe
Playlist
1. "Strange Behaviour" - Feed Me ft. Tasha Baxter
2. "The Professional" - The Weeknd
3. "Things We Lost in the Fire" - Bastille
4. "Float On" - Danny Brown ft. Charli XCX
5. "Inside Out" - Eve 6
I'll also be talking about the writers of each episode and who directed it. I'm personally fascinated with how directors are chosen for television programs. There's some directors who are with a show for most of it's run. (That's not at all the case with Friends by the way; How I Met Your Mother is directed by the same person in 180 of its 193 episodes). There's some directors who literally direct one episode in the show's entire run. I just want to know how or why they choose directors and why there isn't more cases of directors focusing on just one show like HIMYM. Anyway, to the episodes!
"The One Where Nana Dies"
Written by the co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane, this episode deals with both death and homosexuality in the same episode. In the opening scene, Chandler gets mistaken as gay by his co-worker. Apparently this isn't an uncommon thing for women to think when they first meet him.
At first, I was afraid that there was going to be rampant homophobia in this episode, but I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there's a very slight undertone that Chandler being gay is seen as a negative, but it's very slight. Also, this episode came three years before Ellen came out on her show so I do think context is important here. I wasn't fortunate enough to watch this episode live, but I'm fairly sure it was progressive at the time.
This story kind of still works, because it's not unbelievable that Chandler could be perceived as gay. The show actually makes fun of the fact that it's hard to pinpoint why it isn't a stretch. He has a certain "quality." Thankfully at this point in the show, the story takes kind of a different direction as they are dangerously skirting that line between homophobic and funny (though I'm guessing in 1994, that line was nonexistent).
I will say that there are actually no negative qualities mentioned in regards as to why Chandler is perceived as gay. They say he's smart and funny. I guess all gay people are smart and funny. (This is much better than the alternative though so that's not really a complaint). And then Chandler switches from worrying about people thinking he's gay to complaining that he wants to be set up with someone more suitable like Bryan.
Then there's really three definitive punchlines to this story that generate laugh out loud moments for me. When Chandler says "Well don't we all look nice. It's stuff like that isn't it?," it's funny both because that sounds like something Chandler would say and because most straight people don't say stuff like that. It's not that saying that is gay, but it's certainly not the stereotypical thing that a straight person would say. The other moment is when Ross, high on painkillers from literally falling into a grave, comes up to him and tells him it's ok to be gay in front of a pretty lady that Chandler was talking with. Lastly, Chandler is adamant that he could get a Bryan, and then Bryan walks in. It's incredibly predictable but somehow still really funny.
Given the time period, it wouldn't be surprising if there was homophobia in this episode. I'd argue that it looks pretty good still though all things considered. I just felt like addressing these things would be necessary especially given all that's changed since 1994 regarding gay rights. I think it holds up pretty well.
The other story is that Ross and Monica's grandmother died. This is a bit random and we've never met their grandmother so it's too hard to care a lot. But if the only reason for this was to bring back their parents, then that's the only reason I need personally. Since I'm only covering two episodes this week, I think it's the right time to talk about the casting choices of Elliot Gould and Christina Pickles.
Jack Gellar is a brilliant character. He's just the perfect parent for comedy. He's clueless, but he cares a lot about his kids. He's an oddball who's not hard to relate to. And of course Gould plays him so well. This show has some pretty great guest stars, but I don't think anyone ever manages to top the character of Jack Gellar. Then there's Christina Pickles, whose character annoys me, but as far as the actress herself, she definitely nails what the writing intends. I may not like the writing of her character, but Pickles was also an A+ casting decision.
What's funny is that the writers use the grandmother stealing Sweet N' Low's as the emotional impact of this episode. It personally works for me if only because my dad is the same exact way. Granted, I'd think of a million things before his Sweet N' Lows came to my mind, but it makes a personal connection to me I doubt anyone else had.
Also, I don't know if it's possible for someone to come back to life like the grandma did here, but I don't really care either. When Ross went to kiss her, I think everyone knew something was going to happen. I think it's actually more hilarious when you know it's coming, because it just sucks to be Ross.
As another point, I don't think this show was very well-known for deceiving your expectations. Hell, it's a very specific formula that it mostly sticks to for 10 seasons. But when Monica asks Jack if he's stalling because then he'll know she's really gone, you expect him to say yes. But no, Jack just says he hates shopping. Great twist on an old cliche.
Then at the end, they look at some old photos of their grandma. They make fun of Ross being naked, which wasn't that funny. What was funny was when Joey thought it was Monica. Also, it was kind of a sweet moment when they saw the photo of the "gang" of friends of her grandma and realized they had a great gang themselves.
A funny, heartfelt episode of Friends that featured no stretches of characters? It's receiving an A- not an A, because... I don't know, I don't think it's an upper echelon Friends episode.
Grade - A-
"The One with Mrs. Bing"
Written by Alexa Junge, who would later pen the fantastic "The One Where Everybody Finds Out," the one with Chandler's mom is a great episode of television. We delve more into the history of Chandler Bing, the scarred and cynical manchild. They explored this a little in the Thanksgiving episode, which I skipped, because I decided to connect some of these episodes with a common theme.
Morgan Fairchild, who plays Nora Bing, really owns this role. I'm not aware of anything else she has done, and honestly her IMDB history is quite unimpressive, but this was a piece of good casting. Of course, she has the looks necessary, but she also successfully portrays the image of a mom who can scar you for life.
This is the first episode written by Junge, and as far as first episodes go, one can only hope it's this good. The sitcom-y aspect of this episode is that Monica and Phoebe somewhat cause the accident of a good-looking man and cause him to go into a coma. This leads them to feel guilty naturally and so they make sure he's alright. One thing leads to another, and he becomes their ideal version of a man.
It's a decent parody of what I believe is women who meet a man and project their ideal vision
of their future husband onto that man. Then naturally that man doesn't meet their expectations and the cycle repeats. At least, that's my assumption. The first half kind of worked, but mostly didn't for me. But a decent parody that has a good payoff - and this has a good payoff - makes the entire plotline look better.
The payoff - for me at least - is when Phoebe is playing her song to the man in the coma. Monica tries to sneakily walk out and then Phoebe just abruptly ends the song and knocks over the microphone. That's not even the best part. Then the man wakes up and literally does nothing wrong. I mean how would you feel if you woke up from a coma and two people you didn't know were saying they clothed you, gave you presents, etc. To be fair, I guess, I hope I would do a little more than this guy, because if Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow were at my bed, I'd hope I'd muster more than "Thanks." (Though really what else to say?)
So the women berate him for not being this awesome, unrealistically irresistible guy. Then Phoebe mentions that she thought he was different, but she guesses that was just the coma. Boom. Punchline.
This is the return of Paolo, who gets more and more irritating each time his name is brought up or he's on screen. Like I get it the first time, but there is just no way they would still be together at this point. They are way too obviously stalling for the inevitable Ross-Rachel pairing. Mrs. Bing herself points out how Paolo is a goner soon.
So Ross gets stupid drunk - to try and get the image of Paolo and Rachel out of his mind. The sight gag of Ross getting out of the girls bathroom, noticing a girl walk out and that it's a girl's bathroom, and then kind of does a double take kills me. Then Ross and Nora make out. This actually made sense. Ross is drunk and vulnerable. Nora is free-spirited and the sort of person who would make out with her son's friend.
The show takes this opportunity to have Chandler stick up for himself and tell his mom off for once. It seems like an important character note. He's spent all of his life seeing his mom doing things like this and telling her off just feels like an important development.
Joey tells Ross he broke the code by getting with his friend's mom. But then he mentions that sisters are ok, but I am pretty positive that is NOT true. In fact, Chandler would hook up with Joey's sister later and that was seen as a pretty big betrayal. That's just one of many minor inconsistencies with the show.
In addition to digging deeper into Chandler's past, this episode was more hilarious than the average episode. And that's saying something coming from me who usually laughs a lot. This is just a Friends episode firing on all cylinders.
Grade - A
Quotes
"See, I don't believe in any of that. I think when you're dead, you're dead. You're gone. You're worm food." (Joey forgets this conversation came about because the Gellar Nana died leading to awkward silence) "So Chandler looks gay?"
"Well, don't we look nice all dressed up?" (looks at friends) "It's stuff like that isn't it?"
"And listen man, if you want to be gay, you be gay. Doesn't matter to me" - Ross on painkillers
"Now I'm depressed! .... even more than I was." - Jack Gellar after a bad outcome in the football game
"If I wanted to get a Bryan, I could get a Bryan. Hey Bryan." - Predictable yet still funny from Chandler
"I wish more men were like him." - Monica about an unconscious man they know nothing about
"I'm a fabulous mom. I bought my son his first condom." - Nora Bing on Leno
"And then he burst into flames." - Chandler
"Uhhhh, I'll just pee in the street." - Joey after seeing Ross and Mrs. Bing kissing
"Do they wait for me to kiss?" - Ross on Rachel-Paolo
"You know what? We thought you were different. But I guess it was just the coma." - Phoebe
Playlist
1. "Strange Behaviour" - Feed Me ft. Tasha Baxter
2. "The Professional" - The Weeknd
3. "Things We Lost in the Fire" - Bastille
4. "Float On" - Danny Brown ft. Charli XCX
5. "Inside Out" - Eve 6
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Friends: Blackout, a Butt, and Laundry Detergent (S1: E5-7)
"The One with the East German Laundry Detergent"
I'm beginning to notice that Friends has a very specific formula already. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it's certainly disheartening to see your favorite sitcom turn out to be so formulaic (I was 12 when the show ended so formulaic wasn't really formulaic to me.) In fact, it helped the show pretty much be a safe option to watch every episode. You know what you're getting and if you like that product, than you're virtually guaranteed to like every episode.
The opening scene follows the tradition of the first five episodes and has the friends talk about sex and the differences between boys and girls yet again. With the exception of "The One with the Thumb," they've all been basically separated from the plot. None of them have been particularly strong either, although that could certainly be that it has aged poorly. Still, these kind of conversations were pretty limited in who they related to as it's about the New York dating scene. That applies to people who live in New York and maybe Los Angeles, but that's pretty much it.
The episode takes the three friends and puts them in three pairs. I found two of them to work really well and another one that didn't really go over well with me.
The one that didn't work for me was Monica and Joey trying to break up another couple on a double date. This portion wasn't terribly funny, or at least funny enough to justify why we should root for Joey and Monica to succeed. Joey broke up with Angela and from the scenes we see Angela and her date seem happy. Why would we root for Joey and Monica to break them up despite the fact that they are the title characters? It certainly doesn't help that we never see Angela again.
And really the justification for why he breaks up with Angela is that she nibbles loudly? That seems like it only applies to eating wings or food like that. Evidently, all's it takes to break up a couple is to spill wine on one of the spouse's shirts to get closer. I just never found a reason why the audience would root for Joey and Monica to succeed OR any scenes showing them succeeding.
I do find it interesting that the creators originally intended for Joey and Monica to get together, but ultimately scrapped this plan. I wonder if they intended it this early, which judging by the decision to double date them, I think they did. I also wonder if this episode did anything to dissuade them.
Ross and Rachel doing laundry together was another one that worked. David Schwimmer helped these scenes a lot in my opinion generating laughs just through his own comedic style. His attempts to woo Rachel are hilarious and not very successful. I mean if you're trying to woo another person, shouldn't the other person be at least somewhat aware that you are trying to do that? That said, I'm not sure Rachel's obliviousness really worked. She knows Ross has a crush on her and he has stated his intentions in the pilot. Here she acts like they've been best friends for years with no romantic intentions.
Still, Ross' attempts to explain why he can't do laundry in his building are hilarious. Also, when he tries to compliment Rachel and realizes he's just fawning and just stops the conversation is funny. When Rachel holds up her white panties and Ross crumbles, it works. This makes sense at the time since the Ross the audience knows has only had sex with one woman and so far has been a clumsy fool. I'll be looking for when they change his character, because he becomes a charming womanizer at some point. (Unlike with Rachel, this change is for the worse at least for character's sake)
Lastly, Chandler tries to break up with the infamous Janice. Her laugh is ever present in this episode, but she does not say "Oh. My. God." once. Matthew Perry pretty much steals this episode making a storyline that could have missed and elevating it to the best story in the episode. Specifically, he accidentally hits Janice in the face, buries his face in couch, and then jumps over the couch exclaiming "I hit her in the eye." The combination of the jump and dialogue is definitely a highlight. Plus, Phoebe's ability to break up with people easily while Chandler inadvertently says he will commit is a funny concept. I wonder why they never acknowledged her ability later on ever.
Side note: Monica says her brother didn't tell her when he lost his virginity, which we know is false. I mean this is to be expected in the later seasons, but like two episodes before this, we found out he told his sister about having sex with Carol.
Overall, I laughed a lot so this episode. Also, the best episode of the season has also been the most formulaic so it makes senses that the second best episode is also formulaic. I'm sensing a trend here.
Grade - B+
"The One with the Butt"
This episode is interesting because I don't know what to talk about. I mean whereas I found good or bad things in each of this episode, this episode was mostly serviceable. Again, I laughed a decent amount elevating it past an average grade, but there's not much that happens here.
In the opening scene, they do NOT talk about sex. And it's related to the plot! Joey's in an awful play, which hits the right notes. It's just ridiculous enough to be funny, but I could easily see this play existing somewhere. Anyway, it leads to Estelle being his agent, who's a great character, who lands him his first "big" role in playing Al Pacino's butt double.
Despite the fact that this literally requires no acting whatsoever, Joey over thinks this as what happens most times in sitcoms for easy tasks. But Joey saying he's going for "quiet desperation" in his butt acting is worth this whole story. Then at the end, the friends recited his play, which helped establish the type of friends these people are.
The other story is Monica's OCD like manners. This is an example of a story where I don't know what to say. It wasn't exactly great, but it's not like it didn't work. It helped develop a part of Monica the character that's already been established. So I can't really say anything bad about this either as that's more than I can say about Joey.
I don't think Matthew Perry could do any wrong in this first season. I don't even know if it's the material's he given, but he is clearly the most polished and identifiable character right now. He "lucks" into a girl who is willing to have sex with him, but she also gets around.
Chandler's attempts at getting a date with her are pretty hilarious, but not to the extent where it's shocking she says yes. Also, I do think it was a good decision to have Chandler break up with her, because it reveals that there's more to him than it seems. I don't know I can't imagine it would be that easy to date someone who you know has at least three other mates despite her beauty.
Overall, a funny, if somewhat nondescript episode.
Grade - B
The One with the Blackout
Well, this episode is just awesome. Again, Matthew Perry is the MVP of this season. He gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre and most of the episode is Chandler's thoughts and actions. Almost all of it is hilarious. He almost completely screws up and yet it doesn't matter because they are stuck in the same place.
Then there's Chandler's mumbling to Joey, which I know so well I understood it. I don't remember if it was clear the first time or if knowing it ahead of time makes it clear. Then Joey doesn't say anything at all, and probably says something dirty, to which Chandler responds, "Oh like I haven't thought of that." It was a smart decision to not know what Joey is saying because our imagination is probably funnier than what he actually said.
Then the rest of the friends get blackout when Phoebe begins playing her song. I don't think they have utilized her funny songs yet in this show's run, and it will be at least another another episode until they do. It was pretty smart to start the show like that though. And hey again the opening is pertinent to the plot and not completely unrelated!
So the friends invariably end up talking about sex, because that's evidently what you do when there's no power and you have to entertain yourself. This leads to the weirdest places they have had sex, and I don't think Rachel's weirdest being at the foot of the bed actually makes any sense, but whatever. It's an excuse for her to want passion and the show makes that passion Paulo.
Because it's certainly nothing else. He doesn't even speak English. I suppose this is kind of a new direction from the standard. Create a threat for the two title characters to postpone getting together and they literally made the threat as little of an actual threat as possible. I mean this relationship is completely based off sex so this pretty much gives the writer's free reign to do whatever.
It kind of works surprisingly in stalling the inevitable though. I mean they made it funny by having the cat jump on Ross when he's about to make his move. Unfortunately, when we hear Phoebe, Monica, and Joey singing "Top of the World" it's really clear the cat is fake. Not that I want it to be a real cat, but it has to at least appear to be a real cat.
So the episode ends with Ross and Rachel's inevitable relationship put on hold. I'll be wondering how much of this toying with the audience seems organic and how much seems like the writers just stalling. While this is obviously stalling, it's decently good writing and not completely contrived so there's no reason to get annoyed yet. And of course, you had to know they would stall it if you've ever seen a sitcom ever. So this is a great episode of Friends that doesn't follow it's typical formula!
Late addition - The episode prominently features Joey proclaiming Ross is in the "friend zone." That's not a real thing in my opinion, but I didn't have a problem with it because Joey's the one saying it so that's perfectly in character. But I don't think there is such a "friend zone" personally.
Grade - A
"The One with the Butt"
This episode is interesting because I don't know what to talk about. I mean whereas I found good or bad things in each of this episode, this episode was mostly serviceable. Again, I laughed a decent amount elevating it past an average grade, but there's not much that happens here.
In the opening scene, they do NOT talk about sex. And it's related to the plot! Joey's in an awful play, which hits the right notes. It's just ridiculous enough to be funny, but I could easily see this play existing somewhere. Anyway, it leads to Estelle being his agent, who's a great character, who lands him his first "big" role in playing Al Pacino's butt double.
Despite the fact that this literally requires no acting whatsoever, Joey over thinks this as what happens most times in sitcoms for easy tasks. But Joey saying he's going for "quiet desperation" in his butt acting is worth this whole story. Then at the end, the friends recited his play, which helped establish the type of friends these people are.
The other story is Monica's OCD like manners. This is an example of a story where I don't know what to say. It wasn't exactly great, but it's not like it didn't work. It helped develop a part of Monica the character that's already been established. So I can't really say anything bad about this either as that's more than I can say about Joey.
I don't think Matthew Perry could do any wrong in this first season. I don't even know if it's the material's he given, but he is clearly the most polished and identifiable character right now. He "lucks" into a girl who is willing to have sex with him, but she also gets around.
Chandler's attempts at getting a date with her are pretty hilarious, but not to the extent where it's shocking she says yes. Also, I do think it was a good decision to have Chandler break up with her, because it reveals that there's more to him than it seems. I don't know I can't imagine it would be that easy to date someone who you know has at least three other mates despite her beauty.
Overall, a funny, if somewhat nondescript episode.
Grade - B
The One with the Blackout
Well, this episode is just awesome. Again, Matthew Perry is the MVP of this season. He gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre and most of the episode is Chandler's thoughts and actions. Almost all of it is hilarious. He almost completely screws up and yet it doesn't matter because they are stuck in the same place.
Then there's Chandler's mumbling to Joey, which I know so well I understood it. I don't remember if it was clear the first time or if knowing it ahead of time makes it clear. Then Joey doesn't say anything at all, and probably says something dirty, to which Chandler responds, "Oh like I haven't thought of that." It was a smart decision to not know what Joey is saying because our imagination is probably funnier than what he actually said.
Then the rest of the friends get blackout when Phoebe begins playing her song. I don't think they have utilized her funny songs yet in this show's run, and it will be at least another another episode until they do. It was pretty smart to start the show like that though. And hey again the opening is pertinent to the plot and not completely unrelated!
So the friends invariably end up talking about sex, because that's evidently what you do when there's no power and you have to entertain yourself. This leads to the weirdest places they have had sex, and I don't think Rachel's weirdest being at the foot of the bed actually makes any sense, but whatever. It's an excuse for her to want passion and the show makes that passion Paulo.
Because it's certainly nothing else. He doesn't even speak English. I suppose this is kind of a new direction from the standard. Create a threat for the two title characters to postpone getting together and they literally made the threat as little of an actual threat as possible. I mean this relationship is completely based off sex so this pretty much gives the writer's free reign to do whatever.
It kind of works surprisingly in stalling the inevitable though. I mean they made it funny by having the cat jump on Ross when he's about to make his move. Unfortunately, when we hear Phoebe, Monica, and Joey singing "Top of the World" it's really clear the cat is fake. Not that I want it to be a real cat, but it has to at least appear to be a real cat.
So the episode ends with Ross and Rachel's inevitable relationship put on hold. I'll be wondering how much of this toying with the audience seems organic and how much seems like the writers just stalling. While this is obviously stalling, it's decently good writing and not completely contrived so there's no reason to get annoyed yet. And of course, you had to know they would stall it if you've ever seen a sitcom ever. So this is a great episode of Friends that doesn't follow it's typical formula!
Late addition - The episode prominently features Joey proclaiming Ross is in the "friend zone." That's not a real thing in my opinion, but I didn't have a problem with it because Joey's the one saying it so that's perfectly in character. But I don't think there is such a "friend zone" personally.
Grade - A
Quotes
"Why do you have to break up with her? Just be a man and stop calling her." - Me and Joey have very different definitions of how to be a man
"You want to know a freakish coincidence. Guess who's doing laundry there too?" - Ross
"Who?" - Rachel asks with genuine curiosity
"Me. Was that not clear?"
"This is great. We never do anything together" - Phoebe
"Yeah, maybe tomorrow we can rent a car and run over some puppies." - Chandler
"Ew, I don't want to do that." - Phoebe
"Oh come on. Like you've never gotten a little rambunctious with Ross." - Joey
"She said yes! She said yes! Awful play man" - Chandler
"Hey butt guy, what the hell you doing?"
"I mean this woman was unbelievably sexy, intelligent, unattainable.... tell me why did this again?" - Ross to Chandler
"Mental note: If Jill Goodacre offers you gum, you take it. If she offers you mangled animal carcass, you take it." - Chandler's thoughts
"Technically the sex is not being had." - Ross
"Ross, this probably isn't the best time to bring it up, but you have to throw a party for Monica." - Joey
Playlist
1. "Royals" - Lorde
2. "I Feel Free" - Cream
3. "The House that Heaven Built" - Japandroids
4. "Jesus Christ" - Brand New
5. "Roses" - Outkast
"She said yes! She said yes! Awful play man" - Chandler
"Hey butt guy, what the hell you doing?"
"I mean this woman was unbelievably sexy, intelligent, unattainable.... tell me why did this again?" - Ross to Chandler
"Mental note: If Jill Goodacre offers you gum, you take it. If she offers you mangled animal carcass, you take it." - Chandler's thoughts
"Technically the sex is not being had." - Ross
"Ross, this probably isn't the best time to bring it up, but you have to throw a party for Monica." - Joey
Playlist
1. "Royals" - Lorde
2. "I Feel Free" - Cream
3. "The House that Heaven Built" - Japandroids
4. "Jesus Christ" - Brand New
5. "Roses" - Outkast
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Rewind: The Simpsons S3
I've been going about this show all wrong. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting.... and waiting for an episode that is laugh-out loud hilarious. And then I watched "Radio Bart" and I didn't really laugh a lot in that episode - maybe I'm alone in that. But the sheer number of jokes, parodies, dark humor, and just plain truth in that episode was shocking.
It made me realize not to watch The Simpsons to laugh. I suppose some people might laugh a lot at this show, but I've quickly found I'm not one of them. To be clear, it's not like I DON'T laugh some of the time, it's just that in terms of my favorite comedies ever, it falls far short just by laughs. That's not really a knock on the show. It's main purpose doesn't appear to get the audience to laugh I'd argue.
The Simpsons' jokes are the variety where you watch what they are parodying, maybe laugh a little, take a step back, think about what they just parodied, and realized how close to the truth it was. It deals in harsh bitter realities where the average human being isn't smart. At this point, any time I laugh I consider it a bonus.
The Simpsons reminds me of the great comedians whose stand-up is as much about making you laugh as about pointing out funny observations, revealing how society really is, and poking fun at traditionally acceptable standards. In fact, the show reminds me specifically of Louis C.K., one of my favorite comedians. The more I think about it, the more that comparison makes sense, and the less I understand why their humor isn't translating into laughs for me. (I want to reiterate that this is relatively speaking. It's not like I'm stone cold watching these episodes. It's all about my expectations.)
The season starts off fine with a weird Michael Jackson episode made weirder with time, an elaborate Mr. Smith Goes to Washington parody, and Homer being an unbelievable asshole to Flanders. Homer hating Flanders is funny because of its irrational nature, but in that episode they took it too far and it no longer became funny to me, just incredibly harsh. The next two episodes are similarly goofy - for the better in "Bart the Murderer" and for the worse in "Homer Defined" where Homer acts out of character for the service of the plot.
Then there's a four episode stretch of mediocrity. Three of them feature father-children stories making me wonder why they didn't spread that out. The other is "Treehouse of Horror II," which was solid but not any better than season two's Halloween special. It's peculiar in this golden age why they chose to essentially recycle "father messes up, father tries desperately to earn forgiveness" back to back simply switching the child from Lisa to Bart. The "Like Father, Like Clown" works because it gives some insight into Krusty's upbringing garnering sympathy from the audience.
After a serviceable Burns episode and the sappy marriage episode, there's "Radio Bart." Maybe it's because I have a weakness for mediums that parody narratives and expose them as contrived stories. Maybe it's because I find the idea of a person being a hero simply for suffering a tragedy to be a valid question. Whatever the reason, at this point, the show clicks for me. (It's a pretty ridiculously interwoven well-written plot, jokes aside as well)
Something I'm impressed about this season is the lack of filler. There's no bad episodes. The "filler" in this season is fleshing out the supporting characters. Run out of ideas for Homer? Let's develop a story around Ned Flanders ("When Flanders Failed"). Written enough stories about Bart wreaking havoc? Let's develop a story around the love life of Edna Krabappel ("Bart the Lover"). There's also full episodes dedicated to the seemingly one-note Otto ("The Otto Show"), the deliciously evil Monty Burns ("Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"), and alcoholic enabler Moe ("Flaming Moe's").
Besides "Radio Bart," two other episodes stick out to me. Anybody who knows me probably knows one "Homer at the Bat." I'm a huge baseball fan and that episode certainly stood out for defying conventional wisdom about players (Strawberry a suck-up; Canseco an impossibly helpful savior). Also, the hypnotist telling the players to give 110% only for them to respond that 100% is the most you can give was great.
The other episode was "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," which surprised me because the title of this episode didn't leave me optimistic. The "A-story" didn't really do much for me, except for the sex education instructional. However, every time Homer said something with a dictionary-laden vocabulary, I laughed. In fact, this episode provided the most laughs of any episode I've seen on The Simpsons. (As a side note, the finale of this season also made me laugh a lot. Maybe a sign for things to come in season four?)
Overall, it would be inaccurate to say that season three exceeded my expectations. But that's due to the enormity of my expectations rather than the quality. It came very close. The episodes were thoughtful, extremely well-written, sometimes funny, and an unflinching insight into American life. Would I like it if I found the episodes funnier? Sure, and the last few episode of season three are promising going into next season. But at this point, I've changed what I expect of the show so nevertheless I should be satisfied. (I hope I've belabored the point enough, but I don't mean this as a bad thing as a statement like that would usually imply.)
Playlist
1. "I Get Down" - Shad
2. "Mistaken for Strangers" - The National
3. "Love Game" - Eminem ft. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews Band
5. "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX
The Simpsons reminds me of the great comedians whose stand-up is as much about making you laugh as about pointing out funny observations, revealing how society really is, and poking fun at traditionally acceptable standards. In fact, the show reminds me specifically of Louis C.K., one of my favorite comedians. The more I think about it, the more that comparison makes sense, and the less I understand why their humor isn't translating into laughs for me. (I want to reiterate that this is relatively speaking. It's not like I'm stone cold watching these episodes. It's all about my expectations.)
The season starts off fine with a weird Michael Jackson episode made weirder with time, an elaborate Mr. Smith Goes to Washington parody, and Homer being an unbelievable asshole to Flanders. Homer hating Flanders is funny because of its irrational nature, but in that episode they took it too far and it no longer became funny to me, just incredibly harsh. The next two episodes are similarly goofy - for the better in "Bart the Murderer" and for the worse in "Homer Defined" where Homer acts out of character for the service of the plot.
Then there's a four episode stretch of mediocrity. Three of them feature father-children stories making me wonder why they didn't spread that out. The other is "Treehouse of Horror II," which was solid but not any better than season two's Halloween special. It's peculiar in this golden age why they chose to essentially recycle "father messes up, father tries desperately to earn forgiveness" back to back simply switching the child from Lisa to Bart. The "Like Father, Like Clown" works because it gives some insight into Krusty's upbringing garnering sympathy from the audience.
After a serviceable Burns episode and the sappy marriage episode, there's "Radio Bart." Maybe it's because I have a weakness for mediums that parody narratives and expose them as contrived stories. Maybe it's because I find the idea of a person being a hero simply for suffering a tragedy to be a valid question. Whatever the reason, at this point, the show clicks for me. (It's a pretty ridiculously interwoven well-written plot, jokes aside as well)
Something I'm impressed about this season is the lack of filler. There's no bad episodes. The "filler" in this season is fleshing out the supporting characters. Run out of ideas for Homer? Let's develop a story around Ned Flanders ("When Flanders Failed"). Written enough stories about Bart wreaking havoc? Let's develop a story around the love life of Edna Krabappel ("Bart the Lover"). There's also full episodes dedicated to the seemingly one-note Otto ("The Otto Show"), the deliciously evil Monty Burns ("Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"), and alcoholic enabler Moe ("Flaming Moe's").
Besides "Radio Bart," two other episodes stick out to me. Anybody who knows me probably knows one "Homer at the Bat." I'm a huge baseball fan and that episode certainly stood out for defying conventional wisdom about players (Strawberry a suck-up; Canseco an impossibly helpful savior). Also, the hypnotist telling the players to give 110% only for them to respond that 100% is the most you can give was great.
The other episode was "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," which surprised me because the title of this episode didn't leave me optimistic. The "A-story" didn't really do much for me, except for the sex education instructional. However, every time Homer said something with a dictionary-laden vocabulary, I laughed. In fact, this episode provided the most laughs of any episode I've seen on The Simpsons. (As a side note, the finale of this season also made me laugh a lot. Maybe a sign for things to come in season four?)
Overall, it would be inaccurate to say that season three exceeded my expectations. But that's due to the enormity of my expectations rather than the quality. It came very close. The episodes were thoughtful, extremely well-written, sometimes funny, and an unflinching insight into American life. Would I like it if I found the episodes funnier? Sure, and the last few episode of season three are promising going into next season. But at this point, I've changed what I expect of the show so nevertheless I should be satisfied. (I hope I've belabored the point enough, but I don't mean this as a bad thing as a statement like that would usually imply.)
Playlist
1. "I Get Down" - Shad
2. "Mistaken for Strangers" - The National
3. "Love Game" - Eminem ft. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews Band
5. "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Friends: A Baby, A Thumb, and a Broken Nose (S1: E2-4)
"The One With the Sonogram at the End"
I feel like this episode is loaded with important plots that could have been spread out a bit more. Ross finds out he has a child, we get some important information about Ross and Monica's childhood, and Rachel needs to give the ring back to Barry (the last is more important, character-wise).
This show opens with the friends talking about how boys and girls like sex. This is pretty weak actually. It's not really that clever or original. (Wow so boys think the kissing isn't important and girls do!!) This is the kind of humor that's really broad and none of the humor is character-based. I could see the scene in literally every sitcom ever made.
Then Carol, who changes actresses the next time we see her, tells Ross that she's pregnant. They meet at Ross' work to show he's an archaeologist. Ross talks with his co-worker and that part of the scene kind of falls flat. Oh she hates men and transfers that over to the not real caveman? Again, the show is suffering from not being original at all with their humor.
Then Ross, in a bit of a stretch for comedy's sake, breaks off the caveman's arm - Ross is many things, but he's not stupid. But I did enjoy the visual of the fake hand hugging Ross when he hugs Carol.
Then Ross and Monica's parents come over for dinner. They really toned down Monica's fear of her parents later on, and the evident disdain that Judy Gellar had for her daughter. I understand harsh criticism, but that was just straight up cruel. I will say that Jack's speech which was trying to make Monica feel better, but actually made her feel worse was well-done. It's the type of thing I could see a parent saying unlike "Spaghetti? That's.... easy" (And I do know what they were going for - my grandma is like that - but then again, I do have a grandma like that and it didn't really feel realistic). And despite my doubt that it would ever actually happen, Judy's "And you knew about this?!" to Monica worked nonetheless. (I have too much to talk about in this post so I'll post about Christina Pickles and Elliot Gould specifically at a later date)
Then the episode basically splits into two stories. Rachel needs to give back her ring to Barry. Her leaving the ring in the lasagna actually makes sense - it's a very sitcom thing to do, but her inexperience with cooking makes this very plausible. But what was not so plausible is that Monica would let her take care of the lasagna when she wants everything to go right with her parents. Hell, she barely let Rachel make the dessert for Thanksgiving in one of the later seasons (the dessert with meat). And that was a grown up Rachel who had six years to improve upon this one!
Then they overcompensated by making Barry into the biggest douchebag imaginable. Some of that scene worked - such as the little kid getting his teeth done randomly interjected into them talking - and some of it didn't - such as when Barry says that Mindy won't settle for that ring. Really? There's no way he's that much of an asshole that he would say something like that. Nonetheless, it is important in the development of Rachel Green. So far, my estimation that it was a gradual change is correct as this is the kind of scene that subtly changes a person.
Lastly, Ross goes to meet with Carol and Susan - I suppose back then it was just funny that they were lesbians, because that shit would be under the microscope nowadays. So that has dated. Their arguments about the baby name and the last name were both good questions and good for the humor in the scene. Again Ross acts like a bumbling idiot again, but I suppose this makes more sense given the situation than the first scene. Then the episode ends with seeing the baby on the monitor - then the various friends react to it in the post-credits sequence.
Overall, this was a mediocre episode of television heightened above the average sitcom just because of the amount of laughs it provides. I don't know how it works for other people, but Friends actually makes me laugh out loud a few times an episode, which other shows don't do. I don't know if this is normal mostly because the things I hear about the show aren't totally positive. But I'm fairly certain in saying that this show is much better than a show like The Big Bang Theory now, because it doesn't rely on stereotypes and not believable characters.
Grade - B-
"The One with The Thumb"
Despite the fact that this episode is a really sitcom-y episode, this episode works really well. Part of that is that it does the sitcom-y portions about as well as you can. Also, the audience finds out more about the main cast. The show uses the central characters arguing with each other by pointing out their weaknesses for the first time. The show runners were really good at doing this and making it funny.
The open of the episode is basically just the friends talking about relationship jingo that is incredibly out of date now. That's not really a big problem with me, because it leads to Ross finding out his childhood dog didn't really go on a farm. I don't really care if this is plausible or not, it's hilarious and makes the entire beginning worth it despite having aged.
Phoebe, previously a side character, gets her own story here, which is mostly self-contained. She carries a story that involves literally no other people. Her bank deposits an extra $500, which she cannot accept because it's not her money. She then writes to the bank, who proceeds to give her a football phone and another $500. Then she gives all her earnings and the phone to a homeless woman. Phoebe reluctantly agrees to let the woman buy her a soda, which ends up having a thumb in it, which she receives $7,000 for.
This for the most part works. The idea of trying to get rid of money and ending up with more and more than you originally got in the first place is a solid concept. And the payoff to that story line was pretty great too with Phoebe offering $7,000 so Chandler will never smoke again. "Yeah, alright" - which I list in the quotes, but which is only funny if you know what preceded it - a monologue about how he is weak and needs to smoke. (But Chandler paid her back right? Because he did smoke again. I've watched way too much Friends)
Speaking of the Chandler smoking story line, this doesn't work as well for me. He can smoke outside if he really wants to hide it and most of the comedy of this is because he tries to hide smoking. Interestingly enough, the way that they got Chandler to start smoking was surprisingly organic. Joey's an actor - is this the first time the audience finds this out? - and needs to smoke for a role. So of course Chandler will show him how to smoke. And later seasons fill in Joey and Chandler's history - Joey I don't believe had lived with Chandler for three years, when Chandler had stopped smoking. So Joey presumably knows that Chandler used to smoke, but not the experience of trying to get him to quit. I know the episode didn't say this, but it didn't really say Joey was there three years ago either.
Then the best story line of the episode that ties the entire episode together is Monica's relationship with Alan. They take this to the logical extreme of your friends liking your date more than you do. It was reasonably funny and it was obvious where it was heading up. The final scene with Monica breaking the news to the friends about how she will break up with Alan was just hilarious. The friends went through the various breakup stages together and it just works. It obviously wasn't meant to portray real life, but it went far enough into parody to work for me.
Overall, the three stories end up seamlessly connected with one another - you can't remove one of the stories or another story is negatively affected. I think this was the show firing on all cylinders. Chandler's story didn't work for me, but Matthew Perry salvages the scenes with his comedic talent. The best episode so far.
Grade: A-
"The One with George Stephanapoulos"
This episode is about the two main conflicts the show started with: Ross getting over his relationship with Carol and Rachel accepting her new life. They are pretty necessary developments for these characters.
Rachel needs to run into an area where she assesses her new life and how far she has come. Somewhat understandably, especially given her past, she's not exactly happy with the outcome. I mean she had a cushioned, sheltered life and now she's on her own, working as a waitress - and she's quite bad at it too.
The arrival of her rather obnoxious and one-note friends brings about that assessment. It says a lot about her character that she spent time with these brainless dimwits. But she's different now - not a lot different, but different enough for an audience to sympathize with her. It helps that Jennifer Anniston plays her, as she's a somewhat underrated actress with some poor movie choices on her resume.
Phoebe is staying at Monica's, which means they have a slumber party. The scene portrays years of friendship with how well they interact with each other. Rachel's gloominess about how her life will turn out inevitably impacts the moods of the other two - It's not exactly like Monica or Phoebe are having terribly great lives planned out ahead of them at that moment.
Then they order a pizza which the pizza delivery boy got wrong because that's usually what happens when everything seems to be going wrong. It was supposed to go to George Stephanapoulos, and that's where the episode loses me a little. They talk about how attractive he is and then they talk about the guys. This relates to me not even a little, which is fine I guess. The only purpose of it is to juxtapose their statements about the guys with the guys doing something stupid. It doesn't really work, especially since the guys' actions seems forced in order for comedy.
However, I'm surprised at two things. Phoebe commenting on Joey being surprisingly tender, which is kind of true in that Joey is surprisingly sensitive for... well for being such a manwhore. Then the comment where Monica thinks Chandler can surprise you was odd because Monica ended up with Chandler. It's only odd because the writers had no intention of bringing them together. This isn't the first foreshadowing that wasn't really a foreshadowing at the time for Monica and Chandler.
The other story line involves Ross getting over Carol. There's a dumb joke about it being Ross' birthday, which was actually seven months ago. Look, these guys are best friends and hang out all the time. Are we supposed to believe that they wouldn't take Ross to a hockey game and would pick one of them to have a date instead? That's weird. One of the friends on a date and then a third wheel? Why not just get to the point and say "We have three tickets and we want Ross to go." It's actually plausible and not stupid.
In fact this entire story just misses. Haha the emergency lady is fat and is complaining about a candy bar! And really she's spending the notoriously busy work day of a nurse calling a company about her candy bar? Then there's Ross getting hit by a hockey puck at the game and then fighting with a little kid and the puck hitting the nurse at the hospital. Swing and a miss.
But we do find out that Ross has only been with Carol in his whole life, something that doesn't really jibe with Ross' dating profile after this episode. But hey, at the time this was kind of important information.
Then the episode ends with Rachel getting a call from the credit card company and telling them she's fine. And she means it. This is important simply because the show wants to establish that Rachel would rather be here than be spoiled rich with someone she doesn't love. With all the problems that Rachel goes through, it's important that the audience knows she's at least happy, if worried about her future. (Or at least happier with these friends than her former life)
Grade - C+
Overall, that's now two important character-driven episodes that aren't terribly strong and one sitcom-y episode that is. Wonder if that's going to be a trend.
Quotes
"Remember when life was simpler and she was just a lesbian?" (Ross) --- "Ah, those were the days" (Chandler) - Perry's delivery makes this line
"I'm not going to tell you what she spent on that wedding.... but $40,000 is a lot of money." - Jack Gellar
"Well, you see what these people are doing. They know what they're doing, they take their time, they get. the. job. done." - Ross about parents
"Hello Susan. Good shake, good shake" - Ross
"Oh my God, Chi Chi" - Ross' reaction to finding out his dog wasn't sent to a farm
"You know what I like most about him though? The way he makes me feel about myself" - Ross
"Oh you do, do you?" - Joey mocking Ross
"Joey ate my last stick of gum, so I killed him!" - Chandler
"If you never smoke again, I'll give you $7,000! (Phoebe) "Yeah, alright" (Chandler)
"Joey, what would you do if you were omnipotent?" (Monica) "Probably kill myself" (Joey)
"Hey that woman has an ass like Carol's! What? I thought we were trying to find stuff." - Joey
"She's going for the pizza - HEY THAT'S NOT FOR YOU BITCH" - Phoebe
"Ha you're going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, palewaleeee I'm so very sorry. Can I..... sign you?" - Ross upon seeing a man in a wheelchair after his original comment
Playlist
1. "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
2. "Hurricane" - MS MR
3. "Moving at the Speed of Life" - Living Legends
4. "Time of Season" - The Zombies
5. "Normal Person" - Arcade Fire
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