Decisions, dilemmas, and Ally McBeal

I’ve been waiting a while for this.

Finally. FINALLY. They are releasing Ally McBeal on DVD–in the the U.S. region. England has been taunting me from across the great blue for years, as they had the entire series out and available for purchase when I was there in 2002. When would the U.S. catch up already?

Well, they finally are. Amazon has officially posted pre-orders for two Ally McBeal box sets. Two, you ask? Yes. You can either buy the season 1 box set, or you can just jump in feet first and get the entire series.

I liked this show at its conception. It was cute and inventive. Of course, it did premiere in the ’90s, at the same time when it was “sex sells” more than the usual amount, so when it became all about the escapades in the bedroom (or say, the car wash?), I was turned off a little. But then Billy died and Robert Downey, Jr. came on the scene. And then there was Bon Jovi…

You have to admit, season 6 was good. And really, every season had its standout episode. It was great. Plus, even Hayden Panettiere made an appearance on the show. Before she was a cheerleader.

So I’ll reiterate. I’ve been wanting this for a while now. But to have to decide now whether I’ll go all the way with the series…

Here’s the issue: I’m going to want to get the entire series. But I’m one of these people that tends to need to watch the entire series in the time period allotted before returns, just in case there’s a flawed disk. And that’s a lot to watch. So maybe individual sets would work. And it wouldn’t be that much saved money.

But I know I’m going to want to get the entire series, and who knows how long it will take for them to release all six seasons individually? Granted, I don’t actually know the release dates for those sets on pre-order, so the complete series could still be a bit off.

Sigh. It’s a hard decision. I might just have to wait to see how this might recession is going–or more likely, see how these things are packaged. As I learned from my NewsRadio complete series, sometimes the packing sucks. I mean, that’s a spindle with ten disks on it. It sucks. What if Ally did that?

I’d hope they wouldn’t. There’s been such neat packaging as of late–like Gilmore Girls. That was cute. Full House looked like it might be cute, too. Perhaps that really will be a deciding factor.

Anyway, if you have suggestions, please do let me know. I’m really excited about the release, and if anything, I’ll post the dates on Twitter if I don’t do a post here. And you know, I just heard that Barry White song on the radio the other day.

You’re my first, my last, my everything.

Two drunks and a funeral

THE CLEANER: 2.02 “Last American Casualty”

This was a complex one to watch. I’m going to be honest: It was hard getting past the kid from Everybody Hates Chris. I definitely kept seeing him from that and not this other character, but once I did, I once again saw quality.

In this case, we had two addicts–neither seemed to want help. The first saw himself as a lost cause, so why help him now? He’s just going to die anyway. The other–the one William was hired to help–was just angry. And I was much more invested in his story than Duren’s. Then again, I haven’t really seen the series often, so if he’s a series regular, he’d make sense. He was friends with William’s father anyway.

I did think that Duren was going to kill himself there in the middle of the episode. When he suddenly wanted to see himself clean–one last time to see his daughter while sober–it was a nice sentiment. Of course, he didn’t make it. Well, he literally saw her, but his message of sobriety didn’t really get to her.

Meanwhile, the real story was Lonnie, who was an alcoholic and who William was hired to sober up in time for his son’s funeral. It’s rather sad, really. Not only was his son killed in action, but he stepped on a mine, and apparently his father felt it humiliated him. What’s more? His son was gay, adding to the humiliation.

So Lonnie was drunk and angry. Very angry.

And truly, so was I. At Duren! He hires William to help him, and then he drinks out of a flask right in front of him. I wanted to kick his old butt! I’m surprised William didn’t.

Anyway, it was a pretty sympathetic family. How could you not feel for them, especially his son who was being basically abused. My only complaint was that come the funeral, no one really seemed that upset. The father was there, the son, and the boyfriend. None seemed particularly upset at the loss.

Oh, speaking of sons, did anyone else feel super sad for Ben? What a weekend, right? Not only did he have to help watch a guy who was trying to get over addiction (strapped to a bed and all), but he had to deal with drunk Duren. AND THEN he had to deal with dead Duren. PLUS, ride with him in the car.

Sigh. Poor Ben. I was surprised he ended up wanting to stay longer with his father. I guess that’s a relief. To know that throughout all of this, he still had that relationship.

Oh, and William worrying about the loft for Ben to sleep? So cute.

Anyway, it was a good episode. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Duren, but it was interesting to see how William reacted around someone who didn’t want help and he wasn’t allowed to help, so to speak. It’s something I wouldn’t have ever thought about. It’s really a nice touch. I look forward to seeing more.