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inmyriadbitsFirst, there was Fringe 2.10 "Grey Matters", which started off on the right foot with a truly terrible title pun. And then there was some awesome long-term plot-arc stuff:
- introducing a legit nemesis, who managed in one episode to a) perform involuntary brain surgery politely, b) kidnap Walter, extract his memories of how to build a world-destroying interdimensional corridor, then use him as escape insurance, and c) outsmart Olivia and deliver a rather cruel blow to her confidence (his parting line "Now I know how weak you are" had me torn between wanting to smack the guy for being such a supreme asshole, or congratulate him for having such a keen eye for the truly damaging comment).
- explaining Walter's memory loss and insanity, which was completely unexpected! And wow, they were smoking the good stuff this week. William Bell removed pieces of Walter's brain and stuck them in other people's brains to keep the pieces alive, driving said people crazy until the leader of an alternate dimension's resistance movement takes them out again to reconnect with Walter's brain and extract the information? I don't think anyone saw that coming. Because it's COMPLETELY BATSHIT -- and yet, it works. I love this show. :D
- Some really excellent character stuff. Starting with Walter: his transformation from familiar, genial Walter into his former self? That was really disturbing. Totally aside from John Noble's awesome acting (someone give that man an award already), Peter's resentment of the man makes a LOT more sense now. I loved Olivia for being the one to tell it like it is -- messed-up truth or not, crazy-Walter is a better person, friend, and father than sane-Walter ever was.
- The Peter-Olivia interaction in general was lovely, despite only encompassing a few scenes. It had that nice balancing quality that I love in my 'ships: Olivia reminded Peter that not everything is his fault, nor his burden alone; Peter reminded Olivia that she doesn't have to be the lonely hero in this. It's a funny contradiction that although Olivia is a team player, she really isn't one emotionally, and that for all Peter's caretaking tendencies, he pretty much never asks for help. I think it's interesting that they both spent their lives being the ones people leaned on, with Peter taking care of his mother (before running off to a life as far away from responsibility as he could manage, which tells you how deep that streak runs) and now his father, and Olivia standing up to her stepfather and taking care of her sister and always being "the strong one," and the one willing to throw herself in front of a bus (or a run-away Walter Bishop experiment, as the case may be) without concern for her personal safety. They took care of everybody else, while no one took care of them, which made them both incredibly independent and stubborn people. I don't think they really resent it, either; that sense of responsibility and duty isn't easy, but it's who they are, no matter how hard Peter tried to run away. This makes their interactions fascinating, since neither really needs someone to look after them. Peter and Olivia work pretty damn effectively on their own, and they both recognize that in each other. Which is why those little moments they have -- like a couple episodes back when Peter asks Olivia if she's okay "because [her] mouth does that thing" when she's upset, or Olivia very carefully (but with brutal honesty) extends her opinion on Walter's crazy -- when they share something, or extend a helping hand with full acknowledgment and acceptance that it could and probably will be turned down...it's very sweet. Their relationship is by no means conventionally romantic, but that doesn't make it unromantic or unmoving, it just makes it theirs.
I'm really very fond of them. <3
Okay, that last point got somewhat out of hand and manifesto-y. I admit, I've had Olivia/Peter on the brain after someone's Yuletide request sparked off an idea, which is very ironic, since I'm not actually participating in Yuletide this year. Hopefully I will have time to write my idea up after the damn thesis is finished, because I quite like it, and because I don't want all that rambling to be for naught. :)
I love the way this show consistently ties memory and the past into its episodes. History weighs everything down with its constant presence; more than anything, I think this is what gives Fringe its ghost-story tone. It can be a very somber show, for all of the delightful sci-fi shenanigans and mad-scientist humor and Casablanca references (<3).
Okay, I'm really done with Fringe now. On to Bones [5.10 "The Goop on the Girl"]! Which was a fairly typical case and a sweet but not extraordinary Christmas episode, but OH MY GOD THAT SCENE OF BRENNAN UNDRESSING BOOTH! HIS FACE. AND EVERYTHING ELSE. Brennan's whole detached-scientist-with-latex-gloves thing and the evidence collecting and ordering Booth around was really quite tantalizingly sexy, without being all "*insert sensual bassline here*" that a show like, say Grey's Anatomy would've done. At the same time, they were so weirdly sweet, like they do: Brennan compliments his acromion process, for goodness sake, and Booth looks as pleased as if she gave him his Christmas present early. <3 And God damn but David Boreanaz has a fantastic body. *fans self* They even got some great giggles out of it -- Booth's awkwardness, him being wheeled on the cart FTW as funny visual, and his defensive response to Hodgin's "Dude, where's your chest hair?" were great.
The writers love us, they really do. I swear, though, if something doesn't happen between them this season, the entire audience is going to explode or quit in frustration. SERIOUSLY.
And then there was 30 Rock.
I think I'm starting to see a trend in the night's TV, actually: mostly-platonic male-female friendships with an undercurrent of chemistry (okay, more like a nuclear truckload of chemistry in Booth/Brennan's case), being all sweet at each other in their own weird, weird ways. In 30 Rock's case, this involves Liz, not the world's best gift-giver, exchanging presents with Jack, who will get your sister out of North Korean jail (hee, Jonathan!). The show continues in its grand tradition of making the utterly absurd and bizarre gestures of friendship between those two into genuinely sweet moments, carried by Tina Fey's unselfconscious enthusiasm and Alec Baldwin's terribly fond regard. <3
Plus, the writer in me definitely has to admire the slick bit of plot-writing that made Liz's bomb threat-gift into the B-plot's Christmas miracle, restoring Kenneth's faith in a vengeful God. :D
Man, if only I could put this kind of energy into writing my damn paper...
- introducing a legit nemesis, who managed in one episode to a) perform involuntary brain surgery politely, b) kidnap Walter, extract his memories of how to build a world-destroying interdimensional corridor, then use him as escape insurance, and c) outsmart Olivia and deliver a rather cruel blow to her confidence (his parting line "Now I know how weak you are" had me torn between wanting to smack the guy for being such a supreme asshole, or congratulate him for having such a keen eye for the truly damaging comment).
- explaining Walter's memory loss and insanity, which was completely unexpected! And wow, they were smoking the good stuff this week. William Bell removed pieces of Walter's brain and stuck them in other people's brains to keep the pieces alive, driving said people crazy until the leader of an alternate dimension's resistance movement takes them out again to reconnect with Walter's brain and extract the information? I don't think anyone saw that coming. Because it's COMPLETELY BATSHIT -- and yet, it works. I love this show. :D
- Some really excellent character stuff. Starting with Walter: his transformation from familiar, genial Walter into his former self? That was really disturbing. Totally aside from John Noble's awesome acting (someone give that man an award already), Peter's resentment of the man makes a LOT more sense now. I loved Olivia for being the one to tell it like it is -- messed-up truth or not, crazy-Walter is a better person, friend, and father than sane-Walter ever was.
- The Peter-Olivia interaction in general was lovely, despite only encompassing a few scenes. It had that nice balancing quality that I love in my 'ships: Olivia reminded Peter that not everything is his fault, nor his burden alone; Peter reminded Olivia that she doesn't have to be the lonely hero in this. It's a funny contradiction that although Olivia is a team player, she really isn't one emotionally, and that for all Peter's caretaking tendencies, he pretty much never asks for help. I think it's interesting that they both spent their lives being the ones people leaned on, with Peter taking care of his mother (before running off to a life as far away from responsibility as he could manage, which tells you how deep that streak runs) and now his father, and Olivia standing up to her stepfather and taking care of her sister and always being "the strong one," and the one willing to throw herself in front of a bus (or a run-away Walter Bishop experiment, as the case may be) without concern for her personal safety. They took care of everybody else, while no one took care of them, which made them both incredibly independent and stubborn people. I don't think they really resent it, either; that sense of responsibility and duty isn't easy, but it's who they are, no matter how hard Peter tried to run away. This makes their interactions fascinating, since neither really needs someone to look after them. Peter and Olivia work pretty damn effectively on their own, and they both recognize that in each other. Which is why those little moments they have -- like a couple episodes back when Peter asks Olivia if she's okay "because [her] mouth does that thing" when she's upset, or Olivia very carefully (but with brutal honesty) extends her opinion on Walter's crazy -- when they share something, or extend a helping hand with full acknowledgment and acceptance that it could and probably will be turned down...it's very sweet. Their relationship is by no means conventionally romantic, but that doesn't make it unromantic or unmoving, it just makes it theirs.
I'm really very fond of them. <3
Okay, that last point got somewhat out of hand and manifesto-y. I admit, I've had Olivia/Peter on the brain after someone's Yuletide request sparked off an idea, which is very ironic, since I'm not actually participating in Yuletide this year. Hopefully I will have time to write my idea up after the damn thesis is finished, because I quite like it, and because I don't want all that rambling to be for naught. :)
I love the way this show consistently ties memory and the past into its episodes. History weighs everything down with its constant presence; more than anything, I think this is what gives Fringe its ghost-story tone. It can be a very somber show, for all of the delightful sci-fi shenanigans and mad-scientist humor and Casablanca references (<3).
Okay, I'm really done with Fringe now. On to Bones [5.10 "The Goop on the Girl"]! Which was a fairly typical case and a sweet but not extraordinary Christmas episode, but OH MY GOD THAT SCENE OF BRENNAN UNDRESSING BOOTH! HIS FACE. AND EVERYTHING ELSE. Brennan's whole detached-scientist-with-latex-gloves thing and the evidence collecting and ordering Booth around was really quite tantalizingly sexy, without being all "*insert sensual bassline here*" that a show like, say Grey's Anatomy would've done. At the same time, they were so weirdly sweet, like they do: Brennan compliments his acromion process, for goodness sake, and Booth looks as pleased as if she gave him his Christmas present early. <3 And God damn but David Boreanaz has a fantastic body. *fans self* They even got some great giggles out of it -- Booth's awkwardness, him being wheeled on the cart FTW as funny visual, and his defensive response to Hodgin's "Dude, where's your chest hair?" were great.
The writers love us, they really do. I swear, though, if something doesn't happen between them this season, the entire audience is going to explode or quit in frustration. SERIOUSLY.
And then there was 30 Rock.
I think I'm starting to see a trend in the night's TV, actually: mostly-platonic male-female friendships with an undercurrent of chemistry (okay, more like a nuclear truckload of chemistry in Booth/Brennan's case), being all sweet at each other in their own weird, weird ways. In 30 Rock's case, this involves Liz, not the world's best gift-giver, exchanging presents with Jack, who will get your sister out of North Korean jail (hee, Jonathan!). The show continues in its grand tradition of making the utterly absurd and bizarre gestures of friendship between those two into genuinely sweet moments, carried by Tina Fey's unselfconscious enthusiasm and Alec Baldwin's terribly fond regard. <3
Plus, the writer in me definitely has to admire the slick bit of plot-writing that made Liz's bomb threat-gift into the B-plot's Christmas miracle, restoring Kenneth's faith in a vengeful God. :D
Man, if only I could put this kind of energy into writing my damn paper...