What up people. How's it going out there? These last several days for me have been total and utter craziness, mostly due to busy-ness at work and then all of the HR-related stuff I've had to take care of as a new hire at NBCU / GE. As of yesterday though, I now have a BLUE BADGE, meaning that I'm officially big-time. Don't mess with me.
I say this because over the weekend, well ... The Man seemed out to get me. Basically, after attending the Universal employee screening of Breach, some friends and I tried to go up to ghetto-fabulous Citywalk for some dinner. Usually, this is no problem. Drive up to the Frankenstein parking lot, present the ol' NBC ID, get free employee parking and head on up for some chow. But the guard at the gate took it upon himself to go on a little bit of a power trip. He stopped the car the three of us were in, and CONFISCATED MY ID BADGE. Why? Because he claimed that my slightly worn and torn ID was invalid according to new company policy. Since my ID which I've had for over a year was faded and worn-out (though my name and picture were still clearly visible) he had the right, apparently, to take it and deny me entrance. WHAT. I have a valid ID. It works - I mean, he could have scanned it and seen it was active and contained multiple clearances. I even dialed my NBC voicemail as further proof that I was an employee (not that I needed it - I had a valid ID after all - oh excuse me, it was scratched, hence NOT valid according to the wisdom of the Universal security guard). I got so upset that I started standing by the gate and inspecting everyone's ID's as they pulled up to the lot ... if their's was scratched, it damn well better have been confiscated! But no, apparently I was singled out to be made a shining example of! I was the one who would have to go to work on Monday morning unable to get into my office, my parking garage, or anywhere else because my ID had been so kindly confiscated. Luckily, my persistance paid off, and I got to talk with the guy's supervisor. By that time, I had calmed down and the supervisor saw the illogic of what was going on and returned my ID to me. I mean - the whole absurdity is that normally, I actually WOULD have looked into getting a new, pristine badge since my old one was admittedly pretty worn. But - I had my new blue ID badge coming any day! Ridiculous? Yes! So yeah, I'm telling you, these things only happen to ME. Anyways, next time I'm over at Universal, there's a few people with whom I will eagerly await the opportunity to shove my new blue badge in their face (and possibly elsewhere). That is all.
Anyways ...
TV STUFF:
- Okay, change of pace here. I'm going to start out by talking about HEROES. Why? Because Heroes KICKED ASS last night - it was, by FAR, the best episode to date of the series in my view. This was the first ep that totally wowed me, that had me hanging at every commercial break. This was, in my mind, the first "A" episode of a show that finally, in many ways, realized its potential for telling good stories.
As I've mentioned of late, the Claire - Mr. Bennett storyline has far and away been the show's most compelling over the last several weeks, so it was very smart of the show to focus in on this particular thread, mix in a dose of The X-Files' "Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man," and add a little bit of X-Men for good measure. Yes, there were many elements here that reminded me of other sources, but at the same time, this really did feel all new and all different. I lot of credit has to go to actor Jack Coleman, aka Bennett, aka Horned Rim Glasses. He was simply great in this ep, and in one fell swoop he skyrocketed to the top of the list of Heroes' most compelling characters. While even Hiro has been a bit repetetive and bland the last few weeks, the bulk of the show has practically been carried on HRG's back. This guy is good. And Jack Coleman was helped enormously by the writing and direction last night, which was the sharpest its been to date on the series. I mean, I don't think there's been a better moment to date than when a caged-in HRG begins thinking in Japanese so as to elude the mental probings of Parker. That was Batman-level cool. The script really gave a lot of compelling moments to Claire and even Mrs. Bennett as well - this was some great, memorable stuff here. And Human Bomb guy was appropriately unhinged as well.
As I said, this ep just LOOKED great too. Very nice cinematography, good action, and very, very well-done f/x. That last shot of Claire coming out of the burning house was grotesquely effective. Just good stuff all-around. Plot-wise, this ep really, really moved things forward, and was greatly helped by being able to focus on one storyline for the duration. No Ali Larter, Mohinder, etc to bog things down. This was a focused, tightly-crafted story that had both the best plot momentum of any ep to date AS WELL as the best character moments we've yet seen. The flashback structure, like that famous X-Files ep I alluded to, painted a picture of a well-rounded, highly intriguing character, and this was the best origin story we've seen from the show to date. I almost felt like I was watching an entirely different show than I'd been watching up to this point. Not to say there haven't been cool episodes before, but this one really was at a different level. Sure, there were still some bits of hokiness (the guy is a living nuclear bomb and yet people are unharmed within feet of him?), but for the first time for me my complaints are really just nitpicks when weighed against the greater awesomeness of that ep. I said in my Best of 2006 that Heroes was one to watch in 2007 - and if the show can keep up last night's quality than, to me, it leaps from a B-level show to an A-level one. And, for the first time ever I can say that Heroes was the best, most entertaining scripted drama on Monday night. This was legit great TV. Go NBC!
My Grade: A
- I also loved last night's PRISON BREAK. This show is just so full of over-the-top craziness, it just keeps me entertained from start to finish. In the first five minutes alone, there were at least a few legit "DAMN!" moments. Bellick's line to Mahone about dropping trou in the office ... AWESOMELY HILARIOUS. Lincoln's totally over-the-top remark about going to get help from the SAME GOVERNMENT THAT DESTROYED HIS LIFE!!! Hahahahaha ... good stuff.
This was just a crazy episode. Mahone sending C-Note a package containing a hangman's noose? Wow. T-Bag on the same flight to Mexico as Bellick? The whole Scofield-arranged scavenger hunt? Just great stuff all-around. Can't wait for next week to see if Sucre is the next to go.
My Grade: A
As for TWENTY FOUR ...
Look, I still love 24. And this week's cliffhanger was action-packed, nail biting stuff - I can't wait for next week's resolution as to the fate of Wayne Palmer. But the reality is: The Palmer stuff is decent if not somewhat been-there, done-that. The Jack stuff with Logan and his Dad is good - the meant and potatoes of the show. But all of these other subplots are sucking worse than the infamous cougar trap! And at least that featured Elisha Cuthbert running around! Morris' battle with alchoholism is a subplot straight from The OC. I mean realistically, this guy was just tortured and had a drill through his shoulder - he should go home. CTU subplots always suffer from this - that there always seems to be approximately three people actually working there in a time of crisis. If Morris is just going to sit around causing drama, send him away and have Chloe actually do something instead of calling AA sponsors. Look, I love that actor, he's cool, and was a lot of fun when in the middle of the action out in the field. But this subplot is lame, no one likes it, it has to go. Send Morris out there to fight terrorists or something.
The show is also really starting to suffer from a lack of likable characters. No Tony, Michelle, Curtis, Heller, Aaron Pierce, etc. Where have all the good guys gone? Aside from Jack, there is no one to root for! Wayne Palmer is okay, but let's be honest he's no David Palmer. Chloe has been relegated to a smaller than usual role. In this situation, you'd think the show would therefore focus in on Jack and make this season more personal for him. In theory, that's what is going on, but in practice, Jack has become so stoic that we barely register any feeling whatsoever over the fact that his dad suddenly turns out to be EVIL.
Anyways, there was some good stuff here, and next week's "Jack breaks into a hostile foreign consulate redux" ep looks to be pretty sweet. But the last few eps have in general just kind of felt off-track and hastily pulled together. I mean, even the little things begin to add up - I mean, why does Logan live in LA? This show is really stretching things of late to have every character and location be within 5 minutes of each other in order to work around the restrictions of working in real-time. It was more fun when time was a realistic factor.
One thing I need to point out in this ep's favor though - the music was awesome last night. Seriously, the sheer coolness of the 80's John Carpenter-esque techno beats really elevated the ep - huge kudos to whomever was responsible - awesome job.
Overall, I'm a 24 fan for life and am hopeful that things will improve. There was plenty to like here, as I said, including a sweet ending that certainly creates some interesting developments ... But ... this was not the best of 24 episodes.
My Grade: B
Alright, I'm out. Watch Veronica Mars tonight, say your prayers, and eat your vitamins, BROTHER.
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