Back to the good ol’ days

ELI STONE: 2.05 “The Humanitarian”

Oh, I was so happy with Eli Stone this week! We got back the old song and dance. Literally!

Not only did we have some explosive visions, but we got back to some singing! I loved seeing Jordan sing, though it was a little hard to hear him (though to be fair, I’m not sure if that was my TV or not). But it was fun. I never thought I’d enjoy someone else singing “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” so much.

But what’s more is that not only did the visions get back to what I enjoyed most–music, big events, dancing–but there were side stories and emotional dilemmas…

Ok, let’s tackle the bad stuff first. There’s really only one complaint. I don’t like this Maggie/Eli relationship stuff. I think I could accept it if we had continued the buildup from last season, but we didn’t. The first few episodes, Eli made it clear that it was done and over. Let me clarify, he made it clear. It was not that he was hiding it. Jonny Lee Miller played it as someone who honestly knew it was over without any lingering feelings.

So I moved on. I was done with it. And the fact that Maggie and her fiance broke up had little to do with it. I thought maybe down the line… But immediately after and saying that Eli was part of the problem? Just unbelievable.

So that’s my one complaint.

Meanwhile, Maggie’s a wee fish in a big sea. The only “nice” person at the company, though Matt’s doing his best not to be large sleeze. I do enjoy that. It will be interesting to see how he reacts when he finally finds out that Taylor is pregnant.

And do we think she’ll have the baby? I’m kind-of picturing accidental miscarriage after she decides that maybe she shouldn’t have it, which then makes her reprioritize and think maybe one day. For right now, though, I just want to know Eli’s reaction.

The main case for this episode’s a really intriguing one, too. It had Eli deciding which side he should really be on–even when both sides are involved in a good cause. For the patient or the practitioner? I’m glad it’s being carried over to the next episode, too. Though can the firm have both the father and son as clients? I’m thinking not, which monetarily could hurt. This is definitely a multi-faceted dilemma.

Then we’ve got Keith and Patti. How much did I love Patti threatening Keith with a butter knife?! Fantastic. And I like that we’re left at a bit of a cliff-hanger, too. What will Keith do with the information about Angela’s cocain use?

Oh, and let me say one other thing. Whoever cast Taraji P. Henson as Patti’s daughter did a perfect job.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next episode, which I think is in two weeks. Should be a good, garbled, stomach-in-knots, emotionally conflicting time! Ok, maybe not that bad. But it should be fun, I hope!

One big ‘Mouth’ is swimming with the fishes.

ONE TREE HILL: 6.11 “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)”

Oh dear. As much as I enjoy the show, I think One Tree Hill this week showed us once again that stars shouldn’t necessarily cross over into writing. If anyone remembers David Duchovny’s episode of The X-Files “The Unnatural,” I think we all know that sometimes good ideas go wrong.

Sadly, we met that tonight. Now, when I heard of a 1940s episode of One Tree Hill, my initial thought was that maybe Julian was placing Lucas’ film in 1940s instead of today. Or maybe we’re just putting the main plot of OTH in the 1940s.

But not really. They made some rather liberal changes. For example, Peyton’s mother was in a relationship with Dan, and after she died, he swore to take care of her. Meanwhile, Brooke borrowed money from Dan, and Haley used to be his club singer–which could mean a little more than just singing for the customers based on her reaction.

What disappointed me most, though, was not the plot, but the acting. Of all people, it seemed like Chad Michael Murray did the worst job at period acting, which is sad for the writer/director. Peyton was a close second.

To be honest, I feel a little bad for Peyton. Compared to Brooke and Haley, she seemed very fair and pale.I thought she just looked…not as glamorous as they’d hoped her to be.

Anyway, beyond that, it was the same old gangster stuff. Skills had his hand broken. Brooke was blackmailed. Poor homeless Mouth ended up tied up and dropped off a bridge to his death. Julian was shot–and by the way, it did take me halfway through the episode to realize that he was Julian. His hat obscured his face too much for me.

In the end, I guess it does prove one thing that Lucas has been struggling with: Every story needs a villain. And in this episode–in Lucas’ dream–he made Dan the ultimate villain for everyone.

I just wish it had been a little more creative. In other news, we have Peyton having some new…stomach pains. I’ve heard some rumbling and rumors as to what this means, so I guess I like how they transferred her stomach death (a death that reminded me of Penny in Dr. Horrible, by the way) to the pain in the final scene. I thought it might have been a wee bit overdramatic? But at least they brought it back to today and gave us some reason to put this episode in this season at this time.

PS – Oh, is anyone else looking forward to the new guest appearance by James van der Beek next week? Looks like he might be around for a few eps this season. I hope it’s fun. Sometimes it can be overdone when someone returns, but I certainly hope it plays out well.

Top Chef: Liveblog for Episode 2

Hi all. JC’s back for another exciting liveblog.

TOP CHEF: 5.02 “Show Your Craft”

10:00 – So here we are again. Top Chef will continue to winnow the chaff from the wheat. Who goes down this week? I can’t remember anyone’s name, so I have no idea.

10:01 – Team Rainbow guy is annoying. Can I say that? And the Europeans are really arrogant. They’ll be my triad of hate for this week. Here’s hoping one of them go down. I don’t care if Fabio was the Shat’s personal chef anymore.

10:04 – Hot dog quickfire. AWESOME. Take that Eurotrash. “I have no idea how to make hot dog!” All the chefs look horrified. But this is a cool challenge for slobs like us.

10:05 – I think I’ll root for the guy from long island, with the weird sideburns. I could see him getting annoying in the future though. We’ll see.

10:08 – This looks like the best tasting challenge I’ve ever seen. Sushi hot dogs. Wow.

10:11 – Radika(sp???) wins the challenge with an indian inspired hot dog. So far, it seems like everything she’s cooked has been mostly indian style food. We’ll see in the future if she has range.

10:14 – Did the elimination challenge start early or is it just me?

10:16 – Jeff lays down the law and gets things organized. I didn’t picture him as a leader. $2500 to split between all 15 of them though; interesting.And they make it out of the store without a budget issue. I’m surprised.

10:17 – Bald guy goes with canned crab meat. Could that come back to bite him?

10:20 – Jill’s ostrich egg is huge. Either this will work out big for her or she’s totally screwed. The elimination twist is that they’re cooking at Tom’s restaurant, AND all the diners are Top Chef rejects! Yikes; they’ll be ruthless.

10:29 – Bald guy’s canned crab seems to be OK. He’s confident about it. Richard from Team Rainbow decides not to tell Adrianne that her dessert is too sweet; he makes it sound like he’s done this to hurt her chances. Another reason to hope he gets booted.

10:33 – Corn soup goes over well. Crab does not. Bad idea! The scallop dish gets panned. Fabio’s weird olive, beef dish or whatever is successful. What did he do to the olives? I couldn’t understand his explanation from before.

10:35 – These diners are mad. They are having fun ripping people. Ostrich egg quiche doesn’t go over well either. Stefan’s work is appreciated as well. Both europeans are looking good again!

10:39 – So, a few good comments (damned eurotrash) and lots of poor performances. Not sure who’s going down in flames this time. I’ll say ostrich girl.

10:48 – Fabio wins. The europeans take home the first two victories. Come on Americans! You need to represent!

10:50 – Ostrich egg girl is on the firing line. It’s either her or Adrianne (or Ariann or however it’s spelled) going home; I’ll predict ostrich egg.

10:58 – Woohoo! I win. Ostrich egg girl goes home. As I’ve long suspected, no one likes quiche.

10:59 – Thanks for joining me! Next week, Thanksgiving with the Foo Fighters!