Soundtrack Moments That Hijacked My Brain

I know I have a lot of commentary to catch up on. There were new episodes of Veronica Mars and Lost last week, and I have several comic books that I wanted to talk about. I just didn’t feel like catching up on that today. That sort of thing has kind of hijacked the blog, and that’s not really what I intended when I started, so I figure that I would do something a little different tonight. Also, I am going to start making each entry specific to one topic, so that they are shorter. This means that I may post more than one entry at a time, but I think overall it will be better.

Earlier today I was thinking about how sometimes a movie or television show chooses a song so well, that any time you hear that song you immediately think of the scene from whatever movie or television show used the song. With that in mind, here’s a list, in no particular order, of soundtrack moments that hijacked my brain:

“At This Moment” by Billy Vera and the Beaters from Family Ties: You remember the scene. Tracy Pollan’s character Ellen Reed is leaving to go back home to her boyfriend. Alex P. Keaton goes to the bus station to try and stop her. He asks her not to go, but she kisses him goodbye and leaves anyway. And this song plays. It’s a heartbreaking scene, and even though Tracy Pollan was not on the show very long, Ellen Reed was always the girl that it seemed like Alex should be with. Courtney Cox’s character was on the show for at least a full season, but for some reason, she just wasn’t as good. I blame this scene, and this song. (Not to mention the very real chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan. They are married in real life after all.) It was a very powerful moment. I was very young when I saw it, but I remember it made me cry. And it did the same thing when I saw this episode in reruns. I could be mistaken, but I am pretty certain that this scene made the song a hit. I can understand why. Every once in a while, I hear this song on the radio and cannot help but think of poor Alex P. Keaton, left at the bus station by the woman he loves.

“Don’t Know Much About History” by Sam Cooke from Witness: I know I am not alone on this one. The scene, of course, is when Harrison Ford is trying to fix his car in the barn. He finally gets it to work when Kelly McGillis comes into the barn. He puts on the radio, this song plays, and they dance. Then they are interrupted by the old Amish guy. The whole scene is very sweet. It’s a really good thing that the movie and the scene are so great because the song is great. It’s Sam Cooke, how could it not be? I mostly hear this song in supermarkets, so I am actually grateful for the pleasant images it brings to mind. I’m also thankful I have something to associate this song, which I really love, with beyond supermarkets.

“Wild Horses” by The Sundays from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I don’t like it when singers and/or bands cover songs that I really love. And I think it is an especially bad idea to go and cover a song by a band like The Rolling Stones. Given that information, you will find it as no surprise that I disliked this version of “Wild Horses” for years. Then the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3 episode, “The Prom,” aired. Now I love it. Buffy had just received her well deserved Class Protector Award from the Sunnydale students. She’s so happy, but then she’s left alone with her award and her punch while everyone else goes off to dance with their dates. Then this song begins to play and Angel walks through the gym doors, looking amazing in a tux, after having broken up with her earlier in the episode. I just can’t help but think of Buffy finally getting her perfect high school moment whenever I hear it. It makes me happy, but it makes me sad too. The moment can’t last. Angel has only come because he knows how important the prom was to Buffy. They are still broken up and he is still leaving Sunnydale. That’s why the song is so perfect. It’s about the importance of the moment and being there in that moment for the person that you love. But I think the female voice and the even more maudlin tone of The Sundays’ cover make it uniquely suited for this scene. The fact that the female voice is so perfect, given that the song is clearly representative of Angel’s point of view, is just one of those uniquely Buffy things. Even though the voice of the show is that of Joss Whedon’s, the voice of the show was still always female. Whedon just has a talent for that. Also, in the previous season, the episode “I Only Have Eyes for You,” Angel was also given a female voice when he was possessed by the female teacher who had an affair with the male student that possessed Buffy.

“Hurt” by Johnny Cash from Smallville: Normally, songs from Smallville have nothing but bad connotations for me. After all the Clark/Lana barn scenes, and one unfortunate pre-sex scene, it is truly amazing that I still love Coldplay and the new Depeche Mode songs. And then there are all the overly praising songs of Lana and her beauty. I have not been able to listen to my Maroon 5 CD since “She Will Be Loved” appeared in a season 4 episode, and while I used to tolerate that Lifehouse song and James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful,” I simply can’t anymore. Somehow it doesn’t have the same effect when the scene is a great moment between Lionel and Lex Luthor. (Also, I know I said I have problems with cover songs, and I love Nine Inch Nails as much as I love The Rolling Stones, but that just doesn’t apply to Johnny Cash.) The scene, from the season 3 episode “Shattered,” is great. Lionel has drugged Lex and elaborately set up attempts on his life, then covered them up so that everyone will think that Lex was having paranoid delusions. Clark tried to help, but Lex was carted off to the asylum anyway. The final scene is of Lex in a padded cell wearing a straight jacket, completely out of his mind. Lionel stands there, looking in on his son through the two way mirror. Clearly, in his warped way, he loves his son and regrets the fact that he had to do this to him. Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” plays over it all, a perfect song for such an oddly touching moment.

There are other songs and other scenes, but I think this is a good enough list for now. Maybe at some point I will compile a sequel to this list. For now, if anyone is actually reading this, I would love to hear if other people have and similar song and scene pairings that they just can’t separate.

A Second Look at Smallville's 100th Episode

I know I said in my last entry that I wasn't going to do much commentary for a while, But I actually wrote this a while ago and am just getting around to putting it up now, so this doesn't count. It's just that the 100th episode, "Reckoning," was rerun last Thursday making it a good time to say something about it. And I wanted to get it out of the way before new episodes started to air this Thursday.

Anyway, my initial response to "Reckoning" and Clark's actions in the episode have softened quite a bit. I've often said that Reckoning is the type of episode that seems really well done on the surface, but when you look closely, it's really a piece of crap.

I do think that Clark believed that he could keep anyone from dying, but not a lot of that is represented in the episode itself. (Apparently there was a deleted scene where Clark brought Jonathan's body to the Fortress of Solitude in an attempt to get Jor-El to save him. The inclusion of this scene would have at least made it seem like Clark is made an effort.) But I also believe that Clark just didn't think. It just seems like he should be too far along to still be jumping into things without thinking, especially in his dealings with Jor-El who may often be vague but can never be accused of not following through on his threats.

It's really the whole premise of the episode that's the problem. Time travel, reversing death, trading a life for a life. It was all just too big and unnecessary. And honestly, Jonathan Kent's death was completely unnecessary.

What pisses me off, is that Clark's resurrection in "Hidden" should have been the perfect time for him to reevaluate everything in his life. Had he not been brought back, with his powers, then the whole town would have been destroyed and thousands of innocent people would have been killed, including his loved ones. They could have easily had him realize that at the end of the episode and realize just how important he is and his powers are. He could have, and should have started to embrace his superheroing future right then and there. There still would have been plenty of angst on the Clark/Lana front and Clark would still have had to deal with the fact that he rather enjoyed being normal.

Instead, they had to go with the whole life exchange BS so that all he could focus on was that and not the fact that the world is actually better for having him in it. And quite frankly, given how many lives Clark saved in that episode alone, the exchange of one life for his, whomever that life ended up being, was well worth it.

"Reckoning" was about TPTB having a main character die purely for the sake of having a main character die in the 100th episode. I just can't get behind that as a good thing, no matter how well the episode itself was executed.

Sometimes, The Internet Sucks

First of all, I already wrote a really long post that I totally lost. Stupid internet. Now I have to rewrite almost the whole thing. Well, here goes...

Veronica Mars: Oh Veronica, how I have missed you. It's been 6 weeks, but it seems like 6 years. OK, enough of that. It was another really strong episode. I could have done without the chick from Laguna Beach, but compared to Paris Hilton, she's freaking Meryl Streep. I didn't think the mystery of the week was as good as others, but it's always good to see Veronica helping the outsiders. We see her do quite a few unethical things, so it's always good to see that she uses her powers for good. I'm far more comfortable with Logan and Hannah now. Maybe it's because the relationship has been placed in such ambiguous territory. I don't know whether I think Logan was lying or not when he said that he didn't know who Hannah's father was when he met her at the fair, but I will say that she's certainly Logan's type. Guy likes petite blondes, and I think if we get to know Hannah more, she might turn out to be pretty tough. I guess part of me is rooting for the couple a little bit. Huh. Who knew? Veronica is so going to let him have it though, so I'm thinking we might actually get a better idea of where Logan really stands. Also in this episode, Cooke was exonerated and then further implicated. Personally, I think the fact that the explosives seem to point mostly towards Cooke pretty much exonerates him right there. It's too early in the season. If I were Keith and Veronica, I'd be looking into Woody Goodman. It was his hangar after all. Finally, is it wrong that I love Sheriff Lamb? I guess, to be more accurate, I love to hate him. I'm actually surprised that he didn't back down. I guess Cooke is going to be spending some time in jail. Wonder if he'll share a cell with Aaron Echolls. I do hope Veronica and Keith don't go to Lamb about the explosives. If they do, the investigation will be over and Cooke will get railroaded, even more than he already is. Wait. What am I talking about? Since when do the Marses bring something to the police that they can deal with so much better on their own? Thank God Neptune has them, otherwise the jails would be filled with innocent people.

Bones: Adam Baldwin! I love him. But you already know that. First thing's first though. David Boreanaz is adorable. As much as I would prefer to have Angel back, he's perfect as Seely Booth. It's so nice to see him in a role where he gets to joke around and smile, and the Foreigner scene illustrated that perfectly. Pure Boreanaz. But I have to admit, there was a bit of Angel in this episode too, particularly when he was all jealous over Bones's internet date. Speaking of her date, they were supposed to meet at a restaurant named Nolita. That was the same name as the restaurant in Kitchen Confidential. Nice shout out to a good show that was cancelled before its time, and yet another Whedonverse connection as it co-starred Nicholas Brendon. But back to Adam Baldwin. It wasn't a great role, but I have to give him credit for not betraying any of the character's ultimately sinister intentions. No mustache twirling for him. He's too good for that. The episode did leave me with a question though. What was up with hearing Henry Fonda's monologue from The Grapes of Wrath at the end? It didn't really seem to fit with the episode, though I suppose its intention was as a general comment on the characters. Whatever. I don't even think The Grapes of Wrath was the movie that we saw on the television screen, at least it wasn't that scene.

Justice League Unlimited: I forgot to comment on this last weekend. I won't go into too much detail about it now, but, as usual, I loved it. And as usual, the Whedonverse is well represented among the voice talent with Juliet Landau as Tala, Gina Torres as Vixen, Morena Baccarin as Black Canary, and Amy Acker as The Huntress. The Huntress is one of my favorites. She's so cool, and she and The Question make the best couple. So, with that in mind, here's a bit of my favorite quotage:

The Question: AHA! Just as I suspected. 32 flavors.

The Huntress: There's something wrong here, Q. I can feel it.

The Question: I'm the conspiracy theorist, and even I don't see anything.

The Huntress: So, what are you wearing?

The Question: Blue overcoat. Fedora.

The Huntress: You really suck at this.

The Question: Orange socks.

It's the orange socks that kill me. *sigh* I love The Question.

Finally, I leave you with a very important question. Whedonesque posted a link to a Buffy versus Batman poll. But as is usual with these polls, the most interesting thing is what people have to say about it, including Joss Whedon himself (just scroll down). (The dirty tease doesn't give anything away though.) Regarding his comments, I'd just like to say, it's not that my priorities are out of place. It's just that I'm still contemplating the great caveman versus astronaut debate. But to turn my attention to the question at hand, my initial instinct was that Batman would win no contest. But then I put some more thought into it and there are just too many variables. Why are they fighting? Is it just to see who would win? Is Buffy somehow trying to protect Dawn? Is it Buffy before or after she died? Is it pre or post crisis Batman? Is it Frank Miller's Batman? Do they have any prior knowlege of eachother before the meet in battle? Are they using weapons and/or gadgets? What about magic? Does Buffy think Batman is hot? I just need to know more details before I draw any conclusions.

OK, I am finally done. For the second time. Now I am off to watch the episode of Supernatural I recorded, much later than originally intended. But there's really no better way to end a long day than by watching pretty boys battle the occult.

Playing Catch Up

Since I didn't update over the weekend, and then posted on the Oscars last night, today's update is pretty varied. Here goes...

Justice League Unlimited: First things first. I am really pissed with myself because I accidentally erased this one from my DVR when I finished watching it. And I loved The Great Brain Robbery. I had been waiting for this episode for a really long time and it absolutely did not disappoint. Had I not been an idiot, I probably would have already watched it for a third time by now. Sure the set up for the brain swap was really hokey, but the pay off was totally worth it. Clancy Brown did a wonderful job of getting the Flash's tone down perfectly. And kudos to Michael Rosenbaum for not sounding like Smallville's Lex Luthor. I think we learned quite a bit about Flash and Lex in this episode too. Flash, for instance, is way more powerful than we realized. I'm just not sure if we are supposed to think that Lex could tap into all that power because he is so smart and figured out how to do this stuff with his knowledge of science, or if the Flash knows he can do this stuff and just doesn't because it is too dangerous. Too bad the show is getting cancelled and we probably will never get to explore this issue. Also, Lex isn't a very attentive lover. That and he doesn't inspire a lot of confidence as a leader among the rest of the Legion. Polaris especially is keen to take over. (Fun fact: Michael Rosenbaum did double duty in this episode as he voiced Polaris too.) Now that Lex has control of his body again, I have no doubt that he will be able to quell all attempts to usurp him, not to mention get the information he needs to reunite with Brainiac. I'm still pulling for those two crazy kids to get back together. And now for my favorite moments:

When asked if he's going to wash his hands before leaving the bathroom, Flash as Lex responds "No, because I'm evil."

Flash as Lex constantly referring to himself as Lex Luthor.

"Am you Bizarro mommy?"

"Heeey! That's not restful."

Lex as Flash defending himself in the commissary with utensils and then food, speeding off, then coming back for a snack.

Lex as Flash pulling off his mask to reveal Flash's secret identity only to realize "I have no idea who this guy is."

Basically, I love Flash. I love Lex. All the moments were pretty awesome.

American Idol: I didn't really intend to ever post about this, but I had to. Why? MANDISA!!!! She is awesome. Seriously. I love her. I think either Melissa and Kinnik are going home, though my just general dislike for Melissa may be coloring that. I don't know why I don't like her, but I do know that if you are going to perform a Heart song, you better nail it. She just didn't. Also, I really like Kellie, but you should not perform "I'm the Only One" unless you have once had your heart ripped from your chest, had a huge chunk taken out of it, had it put back in your chest and then you decided to go back for more. 'Cause that song requires some actual emotion. There has to be some pain to back it up. Kellie knows nothing of pain, which is what makes her so adorable, but also why she shouldn't be singing that song.

House: Dude! Howard Hesseman was the disease of the week. Remember Head of the Class? I loved that show. And Adam Busch (aka Warren from Buffy the Vampire Slayer aka the asshole who killed Tara and then got all his flesh ripped off his body by evil Willow) is a cow lover, but not. He's really just into his stepmom, ala Bill S. Preston, Esq. Man, the people on this show are freaky. Who would claim to be a cow lover when they weren't? Oh, there's Greg Grunberg too! I love him. I miss Weiss on Alias. He's going to be in a pilot, called Heroes that sounds really good though. Sort of a superhero thing meets Lost. Ooooo, and he not only called House an ass, but he punched him too. I love Dr. House, but sometimes he really deserves that. His performance was very good too.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: It was better than the previous 4 issues. Hopefully now that "The Other" is over, Peter David can get into his own thing and tell some interesting stories. I'm just not sure if this is it. But it was better.

Infinite Crisis #5: Since I'm not really a big reader of DC Comics, so I don't understand half of what's going on in this mini series. But I am enjoying it. Frankly, I thought Earth 2 Lois's death was very touching. I think everything that Kal-L has done, misguided and naive as going along with Alexander Luthor's plan to restore Earth 2 might be, made sense when he held her dying body his arms and said "Superman always saves Lois Lane." When you think about it, that is pretty much an absolute truth of his life. So when Alexander Luthor tells him that Lois isn't dying because of old age and that she can be saved, of course this would seem reasonable to him. Then add that to the fact that he has, quite naturally as most people do this of their home, idealized his memory of Earth 2. It's really heartbreaking. Who I can't really understand is Alexander Luthor. I understand that he wants to find the perfect Earth, I just don't really get why. And after the Superman vs. Superman fight, I think Kal-L got some sense knocked into him. Kal-El's line "If your from this Earth it can't be perfect. Because a perfect Earth doesn't need a Superman," hit him really hard. He gets it now. And I think he's going to go kick some gold-clad Luthor butt. I did think that the deux ex machina of Earth 2 Wonder Woman was a bit much. But then there's Superboy Prime. He accidentally knocks off one person's head and suddenly he's a psychotic freak. And it's all because he's a whiny, jealous little bitch. You'd think he was Smallville's Clark. Aren't Superboy fans going to be a bit upset by this? Or are they all to old to care now? On a final note, a flare for garish outfits must be a dominant trait in the Luthor genetic makeup. Alexander Luthor is still sporting his unbelievably awesome gold suit that he has had since Crisis on Infinite Earths. My love for this costume knows no bounds. But in addition to Alex's snazzy duds, Lex Luthor is sporting his Superfriends outfit. It looks good on him. Sadly, Earth 1 Superboy seems to have missed out on the gene. Dude wears jeans. What the hell?

Ultimates 2 #10: Could they actually give us a better issue than 9? Apparently they can. Tony Stark is so cool. I love that he can download the info from Natasha's brain. Paranoid indeed. And he's just so cool about the whole thing. I bet he's going to need a drink though. Then there is Hawkeye. Is what he did with his fingernails even possible? How much force would you need to flick you fingernails with to actually rip them off and send them shooting into someone's neck. Frankly, when I saw that, I thought I was going to throw up. I loved it. I can't wait to see Captain America kick some ass. They've messed with his girlfriend and his country. Things are not going to go well for the bad guys. Finally, I'm guessing that Thor is going to play a big part in the next, or at least the last, issue. Since Loki is behind all this, it's pretty safe to assume that Thor doesn't need that belt to get his power.

Books of Doom: I've been learning so much about super villainy from this series. How could I not? It is about the greatest super villain ever, Dr. Doom. Brubaker really is telling a great story, and this may be the best issue yet. Dr. Doom killed a yeti. That is so cool. He's also completely irrational. In issue #2, Reed Richards was completely inconsequential. Now Reed Richards is the architect of all Doom's failures. His suspicion is completely unfounded and totally born of jealousy. But that's the sort of thing that separates just normally eccentrics from super villains. That, and a utter disgust for humanity. You can't be a good super villain unless you have a real good superiority complex. Also, you totally don't need to get a doctorate. All that education is so unnecessary. You can just intimidate people into calling you doctor, though I suppose it is somehow reassuring to know that Dr. Doom didn't pass his boards or anything. And all this led to the armor. That was a truly awesome moment. My only complaint was that it should have ended with the panel of him lifting his hood and proclaiming himself DOCTOR DOOM. I feel like the rest could have waited.

The Oscars

I know my next update was supposed to be about comc books, but I'm just goint to get the Oscar talk out of the way before I get to the good stuff. Basically, they were pretty dull. Even the big Best Picture upset wasn't that huge a surprise, since everyone was talking about how Crash could be dark horse that beat Brokeback Mountain. Otherwise, if you saw any other award show this season, you already knew who won. There were some good moments though. Here's my commentary:

Jon Stewart did a great job as host and I hope they have him back. I especially liked the campaign commercials for Best Actress. And the gay cowboy montage was really funny. I loved the opening, with all the people they went to to host before the got Jon Stewart. The Steve Martin bit, with Letterman's callback to it later was especially good. Unfortunately, at that point I was watching on the tiny television in the kitchen, so I couldn't see very well. Did Mel Gibson shave his beard? He seemed to look a little less crazy man. Good to see that he maybe still has a sense of humor too. I thought Jon Stewart's opening monologue wasn't as funny as some of his jokes later on in the show, when he was sending up the ceremony a bit more (like the joke about the montage tribute to montages), but t was subtle and amusing. He had just the right balance of political humor without being overly political. My favorite joke of his was the Scientology conversion joke that he came back to after a commercial break, but the audience did not laugh at all. Are they still worried about the wrath of Tom Cruise.

Clooney, as expected, gave the best speech. He's a charming guy. I haven't seen Syriana (and probably never will), but I suspect that he won mostly for getting fat. Award shows like that sort of thing. But I won't rule out the possibility that he gave a wonderful performance, despite never before showing signs of being anything more than a charismatic man. Anyway, aside from Paul Giamatti and Matt Dillon, I've already forgotten who else was nominated. Paul Giamatti is pretty much famous because he is overlooked, so I think winning actually would have been bad for him. I was kind of rooting for Matt Dillon, like I have all awards season, because I would like to see him in more good movies. He will never be as good an actor as he was when he was a teenager, but he's still better than Herbie: Fully Loaded. Ultimately, Clooney doesn't need an Oscar, between the fact that he is George Clooney and the fact that he produces (an now writes and directs), he just makes his own quality projects. But Matt Dillon never would have given a good acceptance speech. I would say that Reese Witherspoon's speech was probably the worst, but that could just be because she annoys me, as does her pointy chin. I have to ask, how many times can a person use the phrase "real woman" in a speech before it gets obnoxious? My guess would be zero.

The presenter patter was typically bad, which is wh I'm giving full credit to Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell and Lily Tomlin ad Meryl Streep for being entertaining. I think I would have liked to see an Oscar presented by no one though. Just a gold statue floating in te air. As far as I could tell, the only really hideous outfits were worn by Naomi Watts and Carlize Theron. No clue what they were thiking. I felt bad for Lauren Bacall, she couldn't read the teleprompter and she just didn't look well. She was shaking. It was just bad and had me wondering when we would be seeing her in the In Memorium category. Speaking of Lauren Bacall, what was up with the montages? They were just random, and a bit overly self congratulatory. They had the montage about the biopics (appropriately presented by Russell Crowe, who I was really surprised to see) and I don't think they included American Splendor, so Paul Giamattie managed to get overlooked even when there wasn't an award to be handed out. I loved the fact that Samuel L. Jackson presented the montage about all the "issue" movies, considering his next movie will be Snakes on a Plane. (Are you looking forward to that as much as I am? I don't know about you, but that's a high concept I can get behind.)

I thought it was pretty cool that the hip hop song won for Best Song, just because that moment was so un-Oscar. But Dolly Parton's performance was the only one tat didn't scare me, so I sort of feel like the song from Transamerica should have won. I never appreciated the simplicity of Dolly Parton (who knew she had any?) until I saw the performance of the song from Crash. The mothers of the two people who were reenacting the frisking scene from the movie mst have been so proud when they were informed that their children would be doing that on national television. There was a burning car though, which I enjoyed.

And it all ended with Jack being Jack. I think they asked him to present this year just to ensure that the best reaction shot in the biz would be back in his front row seat, grinning like crazy no matter what the joke. (And rather creepily seated next to Keira Knightley.) He should rightfully present every year though, since The Oscars are really his show.

Creepy, But Not As Creepy As Tom Cruise

First of all, tonight's episode of Smallville was "Splinter," which was a really great one. It had Professor Fine, so that's just a few extra points there. Whatever my problems with this show, I have to be grateful that they put James Marsters back on my television. Unfortunately, no scenes between James Marsters and Michael Rosenbaum in these one. They are so good on screen together. But considering how good both these guys are at making lesser actors look good, it's not surprising that they would bring the best out in eachother. What we do get is Tom Welling acting all crazy and menacing. He is so good at that. And with the spooky vibe of the episode and the Hitchcockian music, I couldn't help but think of Chloe as a classic Hitchcock blonde, especially with those classic looking suits she wears. Anyway, "Splinter" was a good episode and worth a second watching. I guess "Solitude" is next week, which is another good one -- more James Marsters.

Speaking of really good Smallville, if you want to see some, or if you're tired of dangling plot lines from previous seasons, check out The Vengeance Chronicles . They are like the Chloe Chronicles from a few seasons back, but less Chloe and more of that Angel of Vengeance chick. It's good though, with continuity galore. I'm talking the return of Molly Griggs and 33.1, which is the biggest dangling plotline of all time. I really hope these things wind up having an impact on the show, because Lex is behind some serious shit. I don't see how Chloe could not bring Clark in on this. Also, she's going to get one hell of a story out of this. Here's my question though: isn't Lois Lane the one who is supposed to try and bring Lex Luthor down with her journalistic muckraking? Oh wait, Chloe Sullivan is Lois Lane on Smallville. I forgot.

And now on to other stuff...

Lost: Finally we get some relevant flashbacks that actually provide us with new information that ties into the plot. It was a good episode. William Mapother brought back his special brand of creepy (though still not as creepy as his cousin) in a reappearance by the Ethan Rohm character. Man he doped Claire up real good. I couldn't help but wonder how all those sedatives didn't wind up having some negative effect on baby Aaron. Were we supposed to be surprised that Rousseau's baby was a girl? Because I called that last season when we found out her baby was named Alex. Also, Zeke isn't really bearded. I don't know why that is significant, but I am certain that it is. Maybe it has something to do with the Wizard of Oz. A sort of "Don't look behind that curtain" thing. I dunno. I'm grasping at straws. But I know the Wizard of Oz has something to do with something on this show. Henry Gale, the guy they are keeping prisoner in the hatch, is the same name as Dorothy's uncle. And the other week he said that he and his wife were going around the world in a hot air balloon when they crashed on the island. The Wizard crashed in Oz in a hot air balloon. I'm more certain than ever that Henry Gale is an Other, so I really do think that the Wizard of Oz is a clue to what the deal is with them. Maybe Lost is a metaphor for our nation's political and economic situation. I suppose Henry could be trying to pit Locke against Jack in order to create an opening for his escape, but I think that is he was just a guy who crashed on the island and his wife died, he'd be a lot more scared than he is. And there's that smile that he gave Sayid the other week. That just screamed "I am an Other." Speaking of Others, I don't trust Libby. Just don't. No concrete evidence that she is evil as of yet. I am a little confused by Locke getting all pissy about Jack being in charge. Wasn't he the one who told Jack to lead them last season? Next new episode is March 22.

Supernatural: This episode actually had a bunch of touching moments and those shadow demons were pretty scary. When this show is on, it is really on. I just wish Meg was played by a better actress. I think she'd be a really cool adversary for the Winchester boys if I could just stop thinking about how much the actress sucks. And I love, love, love the Winchester boys. All three of them. I just really get that family vibe off of them. It broke my heart a little when Dean said he just wanted the three of them to be together again, and Sam told him that when this was over he had to let him go back to his life. I feel so bad for Dean, because aside from the short period of time before his mother died which he probably can't remember all that well, the years before Sam left to go to school were the happiest times he'd ever known. His father and Sam got to experience a normal life. I can't help but feel that someday he's going to be hunting demons all alone, not knowing what else to do with himself. Sam's reunion with his father was quite good as well. They earned that hug, and it was really nicely played. My heart broke again when Dean realized that their dad had to go off by himself because being around them puts him in too much danger. He came so close to getting what he wants. My latest fear is that, after Papa Winchester made such a big deal about how close he is to killing the thing that killed their mother and Jess, that he is going to die before he is able to share everything with the boys. That will drag things out for longer. On a shallow note, I normally get pretty annoyed when TV shows beat the crap out of their characters and really cut them up good and then the next time you see them they are completely recovered with no bruises or scars or anything, but I don't think I'd mind too much if they did that on Supernatural. I wouldn't want anything to interfere with the pretty. Also, thank god for the return of lascivious Dean. That girl he was supposed to be in love with several weeks back was so not worthy. Can't wait until this show moves to Thursday nights. That's going to be a pretty kick ass night of programming on The WB.

Veronica Mars: I think new episodes return on March 15. YAY! It was such a nasty tease when they promised a new episode and then didn't show one. But I'm all for them showing them when they think it will attract the most viewers. Anything to keep the show on the air.

Without A Trace: Martin's pain killer addiction would be so much more interesting if I didn't see it on just about every show. Whenever someone on a TV show gets shot, or stabbed, or is otherwise the victim of violence and suffers to long lasting physical problems, they get addicted to painkillers. Whatever. I love Martin and I really wish they had done something more interesting with his character. But I guess I should just be happy that he's getting a storyline.

In the next update I'm going to talk about psychotic Superboy Prime and the awesome wardrobe choices of guys named Luthor, my love for Ultimate Tony Stark and Captain America, and, of course, Dr. Doom.

Life, Death, and Wardrobe Trouble

First of all, I'd like to say how sad the passing of Darren McGavin and Don Knotts. I know everyone has their favorite memories of these actors, but I will always remember them most for A Christmas Story and The Incredible Mr. Limpet respectively.

On a happier note, two of my favorite Whedonverse alumni celebrated birthdays in the past week. Alexis Denisof celebrated his 40th birthday on February 25. (I had no idea he was that old. Not that 40 is old, just older than I thought he was.) And Adam Baldwin celebrated his 44th birthday on February 27th.

Speaking of Adam Baldwin, he's going to appear on Bones on March 15. Hopefully either Veronica Mars or Lost will be a repeat that night so I get to see it. Fortunately for David Boreanaz, Adam will be playing a fellow FBI agent and not an evil, invulnerable lawyer. I'm sure he will still be badass though. He's also been cast in a new pilot for ABC, and posted on the official Firefly board. He knows from good creative teams, so I have high hopes. His costar is Taye Diggs. Now, I love Taye Diggs, but I have to question having the 5'10" actor (and frankly, I didn't even think he was that tall) star opposite the 6'4" Adam Baldwin. I guess he's going to be standing on a lot of boxes. But they are both really talented, not to mention attractive, so I hope the pilot gets picked up and is really good. Either one of them on their own would get me to at least give a show a chance, so the two of them definitely puts it into must see TV territory.

And now on to some commentary...

Justice League Unlimited: Do you know why I was disappointed in this episode? It's because normally JLU is so good at making me immediately love, or at least really interested in, characters that I had no prior knowledge of. Patriot Act just didn't pull that off. First of all, Stargirl already annoyed me the first time we saw her this season, in that episode wit Supergirl. I just don't like the teeny bopper heroes. They are too much like the teeny bopper starlets. And Vigilante's main appeal is still the fact that he is voiced by Nathan Fillion (who still isn't the huge movie star he deserves to be), but Shining Knight was fairly interesting. I loved their conversation at the beginning about Dirty Harry. Green Arrow was also in this episode, and frankly, I didn't think there was enough of him. And why is Green Arrow's former sidekick named Speedy? What does speed have to do with archery? And did he seem kind of gay to anyone else? Mostly, I think the biggest flaw was that despite all the obvious heroism of the characters, the message that these characters deserve as much respect as the like of Superman even though they don't have powers and aren't as well known kind of got lost in the fact that they got their asses saved by a little old lady.

Astonishing X-Men #13: Oh, how I have missed this book. Joss Whedon and John Cassaday totally delivered too. It was obvious that Joss took note of fan criticism that the "Dangerous" arc didn't have enough character stuff. This was chock full of character stuff. I hope people who were angry with Joss for hitting the reset button on Emma Frost's evilness. I think it this issue made it pretty clear that helping the new Hellfire Club isn't really something she has much of a choice in. Personally, I'm a bit sick of the trend of making murderers good guys without them actually having to pay for their crimes, so I didn't care one way or another. I think the revelations regarding her character are interesting. Also, if that end shot wasn't the first time she wore Scott's "favorite outfit" for him, then I finally understand that relationship. I love Cyclops, but when it comes to Jean, he's a pretty sick freak. As for the Hellfire Club and Cassandra Nova, I'm going to have to do some research on them. The Hellfire Club was a bit before my time and the Cassandra Nova popped up while I was in college and not reading comics. But IGN Comics has a good article to help educate on the whole thing. And there is always Wikipedia. My favorite part of the issue was the Kitty and Piotr stuff. While I was familiar with the characters, I was not really familiar with their romantic relationship prior to the first 12 issues of Astonishing X-Men, but Joss Whedon got me so invested in it. You can't help but root for them to get together. I was totally surprised by how happy I was when he kissed her. I guess I now have to add them to the short list of fictional characters that I "ship." Sadly, it's a relationship being written by Joss Whedon, so you know the happiness can't last. Now that they are back together, Kitty will probably get shot.

Spider-Man: Finally, we turn to Spider-Man and his many wardrobe issues. In the same week that it is revealed that Spider-Man will be wearing the black costume in the third film, Spidey's new costume made its debut in Amazing Spider-Man #529. As far as the black costume goes, I have had several conversations on the issue at this point, and the overall consensus seems to be that the costume in the teaser poster, which is pretty much his normal costume only black, is not actually the costume he will be wearing in the movie. I have to say that I agree with this. I can't imagine that they would really give away what the symbiote costume will actually look like so early, especially given the fact that they haven't even confirmed that Venom will be appearing in the film yet.

The new costume in the comic books is far more troubling, if only because we know that it is the one we are going to be stuck with. It is quite simply put, hideous. And the less said about the legs it apparently sports the better. I was holding out hope that there would be a good plot driven reason for the new costume, but there really wasn't. And between putting him in Iron Man's colors and Tony Stark asking him to be his right hand man, it almost seems like Spider-Man is being turned into Iron Man's sidekick, or at least his lackey. Also, given the sheer number of costumed heroes in New York City, would a bunch of crooks necessarily recognize Spider-Man if he showed up in a completely different costume that wasn't even the same colors? I don't think they would.