Flash Forward to good times

So, I watched the premiere episode of Flash Forward on Sunday. (I had it dvr'd and that was when could get to it. I never do anything in a timely manner. Shut up.) All in all, I was impressed. I can forgive a whole lot in a pilot episode. Usually they haven't hit their stride or launched *quite* the feel they'll have in coming episodes, when the meat of the story gets good and juicy.

(Huh. There's an analogy there...a pilot is kinda like the charred ends of a steak that no one with any real sense or taste would eat anyway cause it's over-cooked and tastes like shoe. Instead, those with discerning palates wait until the knife gets toward the center where the tender, flavorful, juicy meat awaits. But no one should truly BLAME the cook for that icky overdone mess at the ends, because it is the nature of the fire. Or network.)

Okay, so all in all, it was pretty acceptable. There were a few bits that were a little ridiculous or unbelievable. Certainly there were a few moments that should have been done COMPLETELY differently. But likewise there were moments that made me want more. And any time a TV show does that (Thank you, Supernatural. I heart you.) I vote that it is well worth forgiveness on the little things. So, here's a list of the good and the bad.

The Bad -
1. WTF was up with the slow-mo running thru the city to "check on his family" after the world blew up? First of all, there is no way an FBI agent is going to leave that kind of mayhem in the lurch to go check on his family. That's what the brainwashing, er, training is for. Second, he runs thru an effing puddle RIGHT NEXT to a downed power line. And he LIVES...to run in slow-mo another day. Sigh. Third, and this is the biggie, slow motion? Really, Director? Really??! No...really??!?! Why pull viewers out of the moment like that? Drama? So a destroyed Los Angeles wasn't enough drama? Then up the ante there. Which brings me to my next Bad.
2. Was every single person driving a car in that time barreling down the road at a breakneck speed right for another car or a tree or light-post or whatever? I mean, I personally know someone who was stopped at a stoplight at the moment that she lost consciousness due to a brain tumor and all she did was roll out into the road. No one was even around for a couple of moments to help her. I bet that happened, too. By which I mean very little death and dismemberment. Sucks for those people flying, tho, huh? The fear of it happening again prolly would do more to ruin the airline industry than even 9/11 in reality. Which brings me to my next point...
3. The reactions of those who managed to escape death by some miracle of not being ehind the wheel of a car seems a little...okay, A LOT...meh. "The entire world blacked out and everyone got a glimpse of their personal future!" "Meh. I gotta go back to my cubicle and fax some stuff. Hopefully Dan in the Dayton office didn't bite it on the freeway like all those other people. Hey, maybe this means I'll get a promotion." People just seemed a little...oh, I dunno...underwhelmed, I guess. The moment that illustrated it best is when the two docs are talking in a quiet, uncrowded hospital that very same day. Um. Yeah, right.
4. Stereotypes. Slutty, hot babysitter who really just wants to be a good girl (anyone else find it gross that she was fucking some douchebag on the couch while the kid slept with the door open?); homophobic groom with cold feet; recovering alcoholic FBI agent; wise-beyond-her-years preschooler able to articulate a moment even adults would find nearly impossible to define (don't forget the fact that it was THE hook that she chimed in with); black guys looting.

The Good -
1. The taste of the characters lives BEFORE the "moment" was nice.
2. We have had a glimpse of one of the bad guys. That one guy awake during all of it...who actually looks a hell of a lot like the little icu kid's dad/doc wife's new lovah to me.
3. Enough of a revelation of clues (ie: the bulletin board) to keep us actively looking for things in future episodes and trying to piece it together.
4. A solid date in the future for stuff to go down. Woot! After years of watching LOST and Battlestar Galactica, you have NO idea how welcome that is. It almost brought tears of joy to my eyes when the date of the future visions was announced.


I'm sure there's plenty I'm forgetting to mention, but see my note below for an explanation. Summing things up, I'm anticipating upcoming episodes being better than the first, which was pretty darn good to begin with.

(As I'm typing this, I am on the phone with my blog partner who is tapping out the rhythm from The Master on Doctor Who...see the Sound of Drums episode and it's very disconcerting! Blame him for how disjointed this reads.)

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

Some people say he could kick a football so fast and far he'd have only 1.6 seconds to turn around and catch it. We only know he's called The Stig.

I'm a boxing fan and I'm not ashamed to say it, but this morning MMA gets the big time TKO. Now don't get me wrong I do like mixed martial arts as well, but no where near as much as I like watching boxing.

Yes they do both have their ups and downs. Boxing can be boring when you watch two guys who have no business in the same ring dance and hold for twelve rounds. MMA well there you can have the same but for 3-5 rounds or you can have the Mike Tyson effect where the fight is twenty five minutes shorter than the fighters entrances.

Now more to the point of this rant. I've seen my fair share of bumps, bruises, cuts and gashes while watching both and up until about 10:49 am on this fine Sunday the uncrowned king of the bad was Vitali Klitschko's near eye removal at the hands of Lennox Lewis. Okay so it wasn't that bad and he would have won the fight had it continued. That all changed in an instant with this exchange between a fighter and someone on the medical staff of the Ultimate Fighter...I may be getting it slightly wrong but you get the point. I'll set up the scene. Fighter on the table, medic getting ready to stitch up what can only be called the Grand Canyon of cuts right about his right eye. Needle ready to inject a local...

Medic "I'm sure you don't have a fracture there."

Fighter "Why? 'cause you can see the bone?"

Medic "Affirmative."

It gives me shivers just thinking about it. I wish I could remember the fighters name, but in the end he lost and it doesn't really matter. I know I'm harsh that way, but we'll more than likely never be seeing him again..unless in re-runs.

Josh Gates is dreamy...

I could make this entire blog an obsessive fan love letter to him. But I won't. (Because that would make me seem crazy.)

So, the second episode of the season was on this week. I was pleased to find out that the theory I formed when I watched my second episode ever was once more upheld as true. Every episode is better than the last. And I will be watching this one again as often as possible until the new episode.


In this episode the gang found themselves in Mexico...and apparently freaked out by dolls. Well, Mexican Island of the Dolls dolls.

Especially the ones that open and close their eyes on their own.
(I'm sorta with them on this one. That mess was just not right.)

The bonus part of this episode was that Tango and Steve from Ghost Hunters were on hand to help Josh decipher the (ahem) evidence that was gathered in with the creepy, creepy Mexi-dolls.

I want to go there and see those dolls altho I fear they would consume my soul. But then again, Anthony Bourdain visited there last season on No Reservations and he came away mostly unscathed. (Speaking of No Reservations, this week he was in Sardinia and featured maybe the grossest thing I have ever seen on his show. Even grosser than the barbecued pig anus. The explodes-when-you-cut-into-it-boiled-stomach-of-blood-and-bread was like a festive pinata of gore at a vampire's birthday. Ew.) I think I would survive at least. As long as no dolls actually demonstrated any supernatural creepiness anywhere near me. I expect the run of the mill creepy. See above picture. Altho you should watch the episode to see the epitome of creepy. Those dolls in night vision. *shudder.*

Do yourself a favor and get thee to hulu and watch it.

I don't mean to ignore the second case of the episode. It's just that the first was just so awesome! But the second is very educational. I learn new things from J.G. all the time. He asks the tough questions. "How drunk is too drunk to run a hardware store?" And he gives great advice, too. Like, "Buying a machete is a lot like buying a new car. Always take it for a test drive."

Oh, Josh, is there anyone better than you on television?

(Okay, maybe Sheriff Jack Carter, but unfortunately, he is fictional. Sigh.)

Season Finale

Some people say his tears are adhesive, but he never cries. We just know he's called The Stig.

I know actors and actresses, cast and crew, directors and the like all have lives, but do they know I don't care? I mean the nerve of it all! I sit here and invest my time watching, developing emotional attachments to characters and this is how they repay me? They just up and leave me one terrible night?!?

I ask you why do Jack Carter, those loveable Brits of Top Gear, the monsters from Monster Quest, the ufos from UFO Hunters and all my other televised family leave me all at once? Couldn't they stagger they're vacations leaving one or two of them to keep me company?

No instead I'm left crying in my pillow waiting, wishing that they'll come back to me and all too often they don't. :(

So now I sit hear inundated with new shows trying, failing to win me over. Off to cry until next year.

Reality Television

You really want to know what grinds my gears?

"Reality T.V." that's what. I mean there are just sooooo many things wrong with it I don't know where to begin..so I guess I'll start at the beginning. The "reality" shows you watch. Get this aren't real! I know shocking isn't it, but it's true! The programs you sheeple watch with such reverence are in fact not reality. Oh they may dress them up with some tough choices or make or break moments, but in the end the only thing real about them is how really stupid you are for watching them

And that's what really grinds my gears.

Torchwood Tuesday

There was a marathon of the first five episodes of Torchwood on BBC America today. It was awesome. And makes me long for the show to come back now, not later. (Maybe. There are rumors and don't you dare go dispelling them at me and crushing my dreams.)

I don't have much to say about it except that watching it renewed my love of Owen, in all his crass and cynical glory.