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.

So Many Lovely Superheroes

Justice League Unlimited: Remember all the reasons I had for loving The Flash last week? Well, I love Lex Luthor for the exact opposite reasons. He's so badass. But more on that later. I was actually surprised by how much I liked this episode since I've never even heard of Deadman. But I think the great thing about JLU is that in a half an hour they can make a viewer really care about these low profile DC characters that he or she might not have any prior knowledge of. At the end of the episode, I really felt for him. I wanted him to be able to pass over, or whatever ghosts do when their work is done. Also, I wondered if he wore that costume when he was alive. It seemed really odd to me that he would die and get a change of clothes.

It was fun to see the big three working together. I think I would have liked to know what they would have talked about when they went out to dinner together. It was fun when Deadman was possessing them. I loved Superman finishing his sentence when Deadman left his body. "...You have to eat it with a spoon. What am I doing in Africa?" And Wonder Woman getting all pissed off at Deadman for possessing her without her permission was great. I love Wonder Woman. She even fills in with Flash's obligatory jokes. But that Batman really hates guns, huh? Dude, it wasn't your fault. Hell, it wasn't even you.

And now for the Legion stuff. I love this storyline. Villains are so much fun. Grodd's master plan was pretty hilarious. I think it would have been fun if he was successful, but only because the idea of Gorillas driving cars, grocery shopping, etc. Makes me laugh. Getting to see Supes, Bats, WW, and Lex as gorillas was awesome though. I think Gorilla Lex was hairless too. Hehe. But overall, it was a pretty lame plan. I just don't get why Grodd would want to turn everyone into gorillas. I would have understood wanting to kill all of humanity more. I just don't get what he had to gain by it. It was awesome when Lex shot Grodd, and completely understandable. Also, I loved Lex's interaction with Bizarro. I hope we get to see more of that now that Lex is in charge. Lex is even respectful of women, not wanting Tala to debase herself by groveling to Grodd. Somehow I don't think he'd see it as debasing herself if she was groveling to him. How about that Tala, huh? So opportunistic. First she's making with the interspecies love (which is pretty gross), and then she's all over Luthor. Some chicks just dig power. I do need to point out that she was voiced by the wonderful Juliet Landau, aka Druscilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any Lex and Brainiac interaction. I guess Lex is a tad more sane now. Too bad. I think Lexiac is my "one true pair," as shippers say. Well, we know that Lex's ultimate goal is to reconnect with Brainiac, so I'm looking forward to some evil, fun, and kinda gay moments in the future.

Captain America: First Avi Arad announced that they were making a movie. Then he announce that they had a screenwriter . Seems like things are moving along quickly for Cap. I think that's great. Captain America has deserved a quality film treatment for a long time. He's a great character. Here's a quote from Arad about what the movie will be like (taken from IGN Filmforce article): "One of the things our movie is going to deal with is what happened in 60 years," says Arad. "Which world was better? Sixty years ago or now? Within, obviously, a kick-ass plot and all the stuff that you've come to expect from a superhero movie." And that's awesome, because the whole being a man of the past having to live in the present is really a fascinating aspect of the character. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I never had my own ideas of what I would like to see in a Captain America movie, though they may have been overly ambitious. Personally, I envisioned it as a trilogy, or at least two movies. (Aren't all action/comic book movies trilogies now anyway?) I thought it would be so cool to have an entire Captain America movie set during World War II. It would have been the best way to use the Red Skull too. It could have been a real war movie. And then Cap would have died at the end, but obviously not really. The second movie would be all about his adjustment to the present day. Then the third would just be a kick ass superhero movie that would show the completion of his development. I dunno, mostly I just wanted to see the WWII movie. I wanted all the unabashed and unironic flag waving. I also wanted them to use Mark Millar's line from The Ultimates. The "Do you think the A stands for France?" line. Best. Line. Ever. I still hope they use that line.

In the second article, Arad indicates that they have a director and star in mind. I have no idea who these people could be, (I certainly hope that the director they get is better than Brett Rattner), but I'm going to float some ideas. For director, I actually think Michael Bay might work out well. I know his movies often suck, but if the script is good, I think he's got the right visual style to pull it off. Think of all those American Flags in Armageddon. That's what a Captain America movie should look like. I had actually thought he would make a good director for Superman for the same reasons. As for the star, what about Jensen Ackles? Maybe I'm just biased because I have a crush on him, but I think he's a pretty good actor, and he's certainly got superhero looks. At first I thought he was too short, but his bio says he's six foot. Maybe it's just that a year opposite the 6'3" Tom Welling and now the 6'4" Jared Padelecki has made him seem short. The idea first came to me when I heard that he was the runner up for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville. The WB ultimately chose Welling, and I think that was probably because Welling looks like Superman. Ackles really doesn't have that Superman look, he's much more fair, not as broad shouldered, etc. It got me thinking about what superhero I would cast Ackles as and Captain America immediately came to mind. I think it's because I see Cap as being similar to Supes in that they are both inspiration symbols that stand for ideals and values that are still important but often seem old fashioned. Anyway, this isn't one of those casting ideas that I'm so attached to that I'll get pissed off if the don't chose the actor I picked (like when I decided Selma Blair should play Lois Lane, Michael Vartan should play Angel, and Gary Oldman should play Sirius Black - I got that one right). It's not even like when I saw Pleasantville and thought Tobey McGuire might make a good Spider-Man (an idea I got before Sam Raimi who picked him after seeing the later released Cider House Rules). Ackles as Cap is more like a random thought. But you have to admit, I cast Sirius Black and Spider-Man really well.

X-Men: The Last Stand: They released some posters. I'm still not impressed.

Spider-Man's Best Villain: IGN Comics had a tournament. Inexplicably, Venom beat the Green Goblin. Really fanboys? Venom? Better than the Green Goblin? Green Goblin dropped Gwen Stacy off a bridge for Christ's sake. And he's just completely messed with almost every aspect of Spider-Man's life: he made him think Aunt May was dead; he took his daughter, who then apparently died, and let's not forget that he was behind the whole clone saga. Did you read that crap. If that wasn't an act of pure evil, I don't know what is. That wasn't just a crime against Spider-Man, but a crime against all humanity.

We have the technology...

We can make him stronger, faster, better than he was before.

OK, so tonight's episode of Smallville didn't feature the Six Million Dollar Man, but Cyborg's bionic, so it's close enough.

This wasn't a great episode, but there really was a lot of good in it. And once again, kudos to the actors. Tom Welling continues to impress, and John Glover, Annette O'Toole and Michael Rosenbaum were their usual amazing selves. Actually, I think it's only problem was that it just wasn't exciting enough, but overall, I have to say that I liked everything about it except for Lana. But when do I ever like Lana?

For starters, I want to point out that "Cyborg" was immediately recognizable as being written by someone new. Caroline Dries did not use any of the typical shortcuts that have come to be a hallmark of any episode that nods to Clark's future. There wasn't a single heavy handed Teen Titans reference in sight. Also, there was some well done pop culture referencing, which always seems to fall completely flat on this show. I counted 3: Chloe's "on a scale of one to Taye Diggs" line and Lex's 2 Six Million Dollar Man references ("I have the technology" and "it cost a lot more than $6 million.") There were 4 if you count Victor's Sharper Image line. Also, like "Aqua," this was a future superhero team-up episode with Lex Luthor firmly in the bad guy category, but the writing of his character wasn't all over the top and cartoony. But I'll get to Lex later.

"Cyborg" was the first ever Superman episode of Smallville. This was Clark Kent helping someone that he didn't know simply because it was the right thing to do. And his interaction with Victor was very good. And I loved when he told Victor that his thanks wasn't necessary and "Help someone else out when they are in need and we'll call it even." Adulthood looks good on Clark Kent. It's even alleviating my bitterness over the 100th episode. Here's hoping we don't see a return of the whiny, selfish little bitch Clark that was all to pervasive in the first half of the season. And I have to say that it was so nice that Victor Stone was played by a competent actor. Lee Thompson Young was such a breath of fresh air after the likes of Alan Ritchson. And the character was so sympathetic. It was nice to see a future hero that wasn't portrayed as a petty thief or an eco terrorist. And I loved the simultaneous jump out of the building with the dual impressions. I was upset when I first heard that they were using a Teen Titans character on the show, but I have to admit that Cyborg fit in with the whole arc of the show really well. I guess the Smallville Powers That Be do, on occasion, know what they are doing.

As for the B-plot, color me intrigued. At this point, I am still not certain whether Lionel is still being inhabited by Jor-El or not, but I'm leaning towards not. I think that after the plotline with the stones last season and his possession earlier this season, not to mention knowing about Professor Fine, the spaceship, and hearing Lex say that the Kryptonians were looking for Kal-El, he's put 2 and 2 together and come up with Clark is and alien name Kal-El. He is a smart guy after all. I also think he's Lionel and not Jor-El because I don't see any reason why Jor-El would be interested in either LuthorCorp or Martha Kent. I have no idea what Martha is thinking, but I'd like to believe that she's smarter than her current actions would indicate.

Again, the low part of this episode was Lana. How many times can you tell a character to shut up? I don't know. I forgot to keep track. I'd like to point out that Lana got into another car accident this week because she was doing something that she shouldn't be doing while driving (this week it was drinking coffee) and yet somehow she can make it seem like it wasn't her fault. Lana, Victor did not come out of nowhere. You just weren't looking. Thank god he was bionic or you'd be responsible for his untimely death. Also, how many times do we have to sit through Clark and Lana breaking up? I really hope she got the message this time. I think when Clark told her "I've always loved you and I always will, no matter what happens" instead of just saying "I love you" he was saying "I'm over you" in the nicest possible way he knew how. She of course will go running to her new back up boyfriend, but I have no idea how they are going to pull off a relationship between Lana and Lex without her coming off as at least a little bit shady herself. But I suppose if she can be so willfully ignorant to the fact that Clark is obviously an alien (she's the one who said there was one living among them since the first meteor shower), than she can be willfully ignorant to the fact that Lex is evil. Meh.

Chloe. I missed her. I didn't feel the episode needed more of her, I just like it better when she's around. And her tops are still inappropriate for the workplace.

Finally we get to Lex Luthor. I was so proud of him this episode. Sure he still needs to get some security, but he's clearly tapping into his inner Magnificent Bastard. This episode had the exact kind of Lex Luthor I wanted to see. A Lex Luthor that has completely crossed the moral line, but has found a way to justify it to himself. I also loved the fact that I had no idea when he was lying. His denial of involvement during his first conversation with Clark was completely plausible, and I'm still not certain if he was outright lying at that point or if he was telling the truth and then conspired with Dr. Krieg after Clark went to him with the information about Victor. And of course this all implicates Lex in Dr. Hong's murder. But would Lex really go kill the guy himself? Isn't that what minions are for? And both scenes between Clark and Lex were great. I know Lex is the bad guy, but he had every right to be pissy with Clark in that first scene. But the second scene was wonderful. It's exactly what I want the rift to be about, and I think this exchange sums it up the best:

Clark: You always think the ends justify the means, don't you Lex?

Lex: What I think is that some miracles have a price, but that doesn't make them any less profound.

THAT is everything I've wanted to see.

Toad Murderer

Lost: Is it wrong that Sayid tortures someone and I still love him and Sawyer squishes a frog and I hate him? Seriously. I was so angry at Sawyer. I mean, he lives in a jungle. There are going to be annoying animal sounds. Deal with it. Was it supposed to be some kind of call back to when he let the boar live last season? If so, I don't think it worked. But I understood where Sayid was coming from. I know a lot of it was working through the pain of Shannon's death, but I honestly think he had a point. He's right about The Others, and Jack is kind of delusional if he thinks they can wage a war without stepping over a moral line. And I think the look they guy shot Sayid after Jack stopped Sayid from beating him pretty much affirmed the fact that he was in fact a big fat liar. I didn't find the backstory particularly compelling (they all seem to be a bit lacking this season), but I loved the fact that it featured Clancy Brown. He was great. He always brings just the right amount of creepy. And I'm going to predict right now that we're going to see him pop up again in some other character's backstory. No idea why I think that; I just do. But I also thought we'd see Robert Patrick again, so what do I know? Mostly, my opinion of this episode could best be summed up this way: Yay! A Sayid episode.

Veronica Mars: UPN decided not to air any new episodes of Veronica Mars until America's Next Top Model returns to the line up. Apparently South Beach is the worst lead in ever. On one hand, I'm glad that UPN is giving the show it's best chance to succeed. They're doing everything they can to make sure as many people as possible see the new episodes, and that's great. On the other hand, I'm ridiculously disappointed that I didn't get a new episode to watch. But at least the repeat they aired was a good one. It had so much good stuff going for it, including the return of Aaron Echolls, Joss Whedon , and a dead rat. Actually, the first time I saw this episode, I completely missed the fact that what Keith found under the seat was a dead rat, not that I thought it was something else. I just had no clue. But Joss Whedon was surprisingly great in his acting debut. Very funny stuff there, Mr. Whedon. Is there anything you can't do? Probably not, which is why I simultaneously love and hate you.

Alias spoilers: The Ausiello Report at TVGuide.com has some news that makes me ridiculously happy. If you want to know, you should just read it, but I'll tell you why it makes me so happy: it involves my #3 TV boyfriend.

OH MY GOD! How Awesome Is The Flash?

Justice League Unlimited: Seriously, wasn't Flash and Substance fantastic? One of the most entertaining half hours of television I have seen in a long time. I love how The Flash (and Wally West too) knows everyone's names, and even promises to paint some lady's fence. Of course everyone in Central City loves him. How could they not? I think my favorite scene had to be when The Flash, Batman and Orion go to question The Trickster in the bar. The Flash is so understanding, convincing him to take his meds, saying he would visit him in the hospital, and trusting him to turn himself in. And when he's asking Batman come to the museum opening? Too cute. Also, you could not pull off "Disco of Death" with Batman or Superman without it coming off like a bad Silver Age comic. (I've actually seen that Silver Age comic. It was Superman.) I know that sometimes I tend to favor animated characters based on who does their voice, and The Flash is prime for that as he is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, but it's impossible not to love The Flash. It's all about him and The Question for me.

In Alexis Denisof news, I never would have guessed he was doing the voice of Mirror Master is I didn't already know. He didn't even sound like him when he's talking with his natural, non-English, accent. In other cool voice casting, Ron Perlman (aka Hellboy) was Orion, and best of all, Mark Hamill was The Trickster. I loved him as The Trickster on The Flash TV series. That was a really good show. (I need to get it on DVD.)

Best Lines:

"You've all been so great to me over the years. I hope I always make you proud. Uh...that's all."

"You're a stand up guy Bats. Don't let anyone ever call you a crazed loner."

"It's not black tie, is it?"

"Bilateral symmetry." (Yeah, I don't know why either, but I love it.)

"Uhhhg. OK. But you guys are so slooow."

"James, your off your meds, aren't you?"

"We'll play darts. The soft kind."

Flash: "Dude, soon as you finish your drink, turn yourself in."

Trickster: "Got me again, Flash."

"Dude, the bad guys went down and nobody got hurt. You know what I call that? A really good day.

Couple of questions about the episode: Wasn't Barry Allen the forensic scientist? Is Wally West one in the comics, or did they just do that for the cartoon? Why are The Flash's villains so trippy? Were the creators doing drugs? What's an Arnold Palmer?

This episode is getting saved on my DVR, just because it puts such a big smile on my face. And speaking of things that will get saved on my DVR...

Arrested Development: I think these were four of the show's funniest episodes. I don't think I can even go into what happened, because it would never make sense unless I explained every little thing. And I know I could never do it justice. But to mention a few of the high points: Justine Bateman, Franklin, Michael constantly waking up next to a family member, Judge Reinhold, the revelation that Lucille was the mastermind behind all of the Bluth Company's dirty dealings, the Iraqi model home full of Saddam impersonators, Buster facing his first and second greatest fears and Ahn Yong's revenge. Oh, and Ron Howard's appearance in the epilogue was a nice touch. I am going to miss this show so much. I really hope Showtime picks it up. Unfortunately, I don't have Showtime, but at least I'd be able to get the DVDs. This is one of the best sit coms ever. It would be a crime for it to go away now, because there is still so much funny left.

Michelle Kwan: I am so upset that she had to drop out of the Olympics. I know it was a long shot, but I was so hoping she'd finally bring home the gold. It would have been that unbelievable, Dan Jansen type moment. And I've been such a big fan of hers for so long. Isn't she everybody's favorite? It just would have been so nice to see her go out on a high note.

On a final note, I couldn't help but be happy for the Chinese pair that won the figure skating silver medal. After the nasty spill the girl took in the short program, they really didn't even seem like they had a shot at any medal. But their long program was almost flawless. It was a truly amazing come from behind, triumphant moment. Too bad they couldn't snatch that gold away from the Russians, but they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

Random Thoughts 2

Olympics Opening Ceremony: Woo pyrotechnics! Those Italians really love the fire don't they? And I think the bit with the Ferrari doing donuts was Italy's answer to Atlanta's silver trucks. Only more expensive, so less white trashy. And the American pop music during the parade of nations kind of took a bit of the majesty out of the ceremony. It's hard to take anything seriously when YMCA is playing. But I loved it when Bob Costas said that it would make his night to hear "Betty Davis Eyes" and Brian Willaims responded, completely deadpan, "Donna Summer would do it for me." I have no idea if that was a joke or not, and that's why it was so funny. Yoko was kind of a WTF moment too, and I wasn't impressed with Peter Gabriel. Oh, and the women who brought out the Olympic Flag? Let's see. We got a Noble Peace Prize winner, and acclaimed author, a couple of Olympic medalists, an activist against violence against women, oh yeah, and these two actresses. OK Olympic committee. I was upset that Tomba wasn't the one to light the flame, only because I predicted that he would be. I don't like being wrong. The actual lighting of the flame was pretty spectacular though. Again with the lots of fire. I guess it was to go with their passion theme. And going out on Luciano Pavoratti singing "Nessun Dorma" is always a good idea.

Veronica Mars (cont.): I feel like such an idiot. I found out yesterday why Hannah's dad looked so familiar. He's the plastic surgeon who claimed he made the anonymous call from the bridge. I'm starting to think Logan's intentions towards Hannah aren't entirely honorable. Well, not that I ever though Logan would do anything honorable, but you get what I mean. Also, since I didn't mention it Wednesday night, Mack and Beaver are the cutest couple ever. Love them. And I love what they did to Dick. I've only ever been a shipper of two TV couples before (Buffy&Angel and Sidney&Vaughn), but I totally am going to ship Mack and Beaver. I may even have to start calling him Cassady.

Smallville: Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a disappointment. It could have been so much better. I would have been much happier if it was an actual Chloe-centric episode, but she was possessed by Gretchen for most of it. And I hated that they retconned Chloe's history with regard to her mother yet again. Chloe's mom left when Chloe was 5, not 12. But Allison Mack was great as usual, so it was at least nice to get to see her play her range a bit. How hard is it for these writers to look this stuff up? I loved the Chloe and Clark scenes. It was so nice to see Clark actually caring about Chloe and not being a whiny little bitch. At the end, he actually went to her to talk about HER for a change. And I liked the fact that it seemed like he remembered what happened to Lex and wasn't going to let it happen to Chloe. He was concerned for her, but he also had faith in her. It doesn't make sense to me that Lana and Lois were like "Oh yeah, she's gone nuts" since they have all been possessed. Being possessed or otherwise mind whammied should always be their first reaction. Always. To every slight change in behavior. It happens that often.

OK, and let's just take a minute to discuss the new depths of Lana hatred that this episode. Not only did she manage to make Chloe's problems all about her and Clark's relationship, which is to be expected since she's still Lana and everything is always about her, but she went to Lex to get Chloe committed to Belle Reve. Where the hell does she get off? Lex barely even knows Chloe. Hate her. And don't even get me started on Lex. I don't care how much money and power he has, he would need Chloe's father to agree to it. Where was Gabe anyway. Did he finally get a job, but it's on the Alaskan pipeline? WTF? And about that barn scene? Lana, You. Broke. Up. With. Clark. Why won't they just let it die? Liked the fact that Clark just seemed totally uninterested in her bullshit. It could have been bad acting on Welling's part, but he's been doing so well lately that I actually think Clark didn't care. YAY!

And Lois *sigh* With her cousin in so much trouble, this could have been a real chance to give the character some depth. She's only in just over half the episodes. They shouldn't waste those appearances. But as much as Erica Durance impressed me with her acting in the basement scene, Lois was as stupid as ever. For starters, does she actually think Chloe would become suicidal because she's taking a full course load and working a part time job? Of course a muffin peddler would think that. Only a crazy person would actually want to DO something with her life. And why is it that when she suspects the psycho orderly, she calls the sheriff, but she doesn't think to lock the door behind her? Does she like getting kidnapped? The powers that be seriously are not doing anything to dissuade me from the Chlois theory. Oh, and Lionel, Jonathan's body isn't even cold yet. He really is the Magnificent Bastard. Overall, the A plot did nothing for me. It was meaningless. I liked the end scene. I thought it was pretty touching to see Chloe face her fears like that, but I wish the episode had put the possibility of Chloe going insane to rest.

Spike: Old Wounds: Oh god was it bad. The characterizations were way off. Do they honestly expect me to believe that Angel and Company would really give that much thought to a murder Spike may or may not have committed in 1947? He committed a ton of murders in 1947. They know this. They also know he has a soul now. Angel is a lot of things, but he was never that big a hypocrite. The art is really creepy too. It looks like that movie Waking Life. And Angel: Old Friends isn't much better. The point of the Angel finale was that you have to keep fighting even though it's hopeless. So how does that mini series open? With Angel in seclusion. Did the writers they have working on the Angel and Spike comic books at IDW actually watch the show? Grrr.

Eddie Izzard on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: I love him. That is all.

Supernatural: Apparently they are not re-airing the episodes on Sunday anymore, so I completely missed this week's episode. Grrr. And apparently they pretended to be priests. Why do I think that was all Dean's idea? And why do I think he was totally unable to pull it off? I guess I'm going to have to give up either Scrubs or House so I can watch this show now. That sucks. I really like both those shows. But I think I'm going to drop House. FOX is more likely to show that over the summer than NBC is to show Scrubs.

I haven't watched the Arrested Development finale yet. I'm gonna do that tomorrow. It's going to be so hard to say good bye to that show. It's the funniest thing on TV.

Random Thoughts

Veronica Mars: This was a good episode, but not nearly as good as last week's. Between this week and last week, my respect for Jackie went way up. Could she be this year's Logan? I hated him at the start of last season too. My respect for Logan went way down. Flirty Logan is just kind of nauseating, with his sikeningly sweet voice and lack of wit. I totally think something fishy is up with Hannah's family though. I got bad vibes from her dad. Also, he looked really familiar, and it's bugging me. Don't like cutesy Logan. And it was pretty low of Weevil to use his six-year-old cousin in a robbery, but Veronica so has a soft spot for him anyway. Mostly I felt bad for Keith. He was utterly crushed to learn that Terrence Cook threw that game. He lost his hero in that moment, and Enrico Colantoni sold that emotion so well. Not enough good things can be said about him. And I think it's pretty obvious the Terrence Cook had nothing to do with the bus crash. It's way too early in the season for that.

Lost: I saw the Sawyer conning everyone reversal coming a mile away. Why else would he get the flashbacks? In the beginning of the episode, the flashbacks didn't seem to have anything to do with the island plotline. I knew they had to tie back in at some point. And I'm kind of annoyed, because Sawyer was a character that I really hated at the beginning, but as we learned more about him, my attitude towards him began to soften. All season long I was just wishing they would kill him off, and then when he was shot in the finale, I was really upset, not to mention surprised that I would feel that way. But this episode just brought him back to selfish jackass territory. I'm intrigued by Charlie's dark turn at the end though. I didn't see his involvement coming. He's become an annoyance, so I'm glad they are going in a different direction with the character. I still don't know what to make of Locke, but I could see his point about not wanting to arm everyone, after Michael taking off and Shannon being shot, but I really do think that Jack is right. I don't think they should let themselves be at the mercy of The Others. And we got to see a bit more of Sayid this week, but I still feel that he's being underutilized. Naveen Andrews rocks and I miss him in the episodes that he's not in. Speaking of characters that I miss when they're not around, Mister Ecko is still awesome. He wasn't really in this episode. I just felt the need to say that. All in all, Island politics are heating up and it's pretty intriguing. Can't wait until next week when they finally don't push the damn button. I bet nothing happens.

Young Avengers #10: Is it messed up that I absolutely love this comic book? I feel like I should be too old for it, but it's so good. And I guess it shouldn't be surprising, considering the number of teen shows I watch. If you read it, you know that they introduced a new character, a speedster named Tommy, who just happens to look identical to Billy (aka Wiccan) except for the hair. Given the fact that Billy's connection to Sacrlet Witch has already been established (not to mention the similar powers) and the fact that Tommy has Quicksilver's hair a powers, I'm going to say that Tommy is Billy's long lost twin. I just hope this doesn't mean that Billy will lose it, marry the new Vision (who I think inherited Iron Lad's crush on Cassie), create some imaginary kids and try to kill them all. Tommy, on the other hand, already shows some potential for a turn to the darkside, though I'd prefer it if they keep him as a good guy. All the kids on the team are a bit goody-two-shoes, despite the fact that they constantly disobey rules, so they probably could use the a resident bad boy. And the mystery over whether Teddy is a Kree or a Skrull is interesting. I don't know anything about the Krees, Skrulls, or their war, so I'm going to have to do some research on that.

Runaways: Ever since I read an interview with Joss Whedon where he said that Runaways was his favorite comic book I've been trying to find the trade paperbacks. Amazon.com was out of stock on Volume 1, but I eventually lucked out and found it a Borders. The problem is that I absolutely loved it and now I can't find Volume 2. Grrr. Amazon seems to have all the subsequent volumes in stock though, so I'm going to order them all so I make sure I get them. My only question: why are the TPBs so small? They're not comic book sized. But I guess that's why they're so cheap, so I won't complain too much.

Star Wars Holiday Special: They actually showed a short clip from it last night on Conan. As it's from before my time, I never saw it, so I was fairly excited just to see 30 seconds of it. Harrison Ford was pretty good natured about it, given the fact that he looked, quire rightly, absolutely mortified by its existence. It was hilarious. In just that short clip, you could really pick up on how terrible it was. And creepily enough, I think there was some unresolved sexual tension between Han Solo and one of the wookies. Totally bizzare.

Beastie Boys on Letterman: They were pretty awesome, but I was totally thrown by the fact that they kept cutting to digital camera footage that was filmed by Letterman and Paul Schaefer. I've never seen them do that before. I kinda liked it.

Saw II: I haven't seen the movie, but I just saw a commercial for it. I think I need to find me a guy who would give me a horror movie for Valentine's Day. It's be way better than getting that Reese Witherspoon movie that's being released on DVD the same day.

I'm pretty sure I had more to say, but I really can't remember now. It's late anyway, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow when I give my post mortem on the new Smallville episode. I'm actually really excited about this one, as it's Chloe-centric and has a viewer discretion warning. I love stuff with viewer discretion warnings.

And I Didn't Even Have To Start A Campaign

Today, while at work, I was checking up on all things Whedonverse (at Whedonesque) when I had to suppress a rather loud "squee!" Soon Alexis Denisof will be on my television set once again.

As I'm sure you have noticed, Buffyverse alumni have been all over your television this season. Alyson Hannigan (aka Willow Rosenberg) and Nicholas Brendon (aka Xander Harris) duked it out Monday nights at 8:30 until the latter's show was criminally cancelled. (I have major problems saying goodbye to a show that featured former cast members of Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Freaks and Geeks. Good thing How I Met Your Mother features a Freaks and Geeks alum too.) Amy Acker (aka Winifred "Fred" Burckel) is kicking ass as a baddie on Alias. David Boreanaz (aka Angel) is finally able to quit the brooding and make use of his oh so charming smile on Bones. Christian Kane (aka Lindsey McDonald) is some chick's husband on Close to Home. (I've never seen that show, no idea what he actually does on it.) Seth Green (aka Oz) is apparently the only good thing about Four Kings (and Robotic Chicken is hilarious). James Marsters has a recurring role on Smallville as Professor Fine/Brainiac (hopefully to return soon). Charisma Carpenter is a sluttier, sleazier, meaner Cordelia as Kendall Casablancas (best character name ever) on Veronica Mars. And there may be more that I am forgetting. But there is one actor that I have sorely missed in all this upswing in employment for former Buffyverse actors: Alexis Denisof.

Not everyone liked Wesley Wyndham Price, though I adored him, but you cannot deny that the actor who played him was quite possibly the most talented guy on any Whedonverse show. And given those casts, that is saying a lot. Simply put, Alexis Denisof could do it all, and, between his time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, he did. So why didn't he have a job? I have no idea. These shows just didn't know what they were missing. And I was reduced to getting excited the camera panning to him for a reaction shot at the Emmy's. (They did it a few times, which surprised me since he's not famous. Maybe the director was a fan.) But now I have something a little more substantial to get excited over. In an article over at Zap2It.com, Alyson Hannigan said that Alexis, her real life hubby would be on two episodes of How I Met Your Mother. It doesn't say when it will air, but I can't wait. I know two episodes on a sitcom isn't much, but it's something. And I hope that it will lead to bigger things next season. He deserves it. And if he doesn't end up with a better gig next season, I will start the Get Alexis Denisof Back on TV Campaign that I have been threatening friends and family with since October.

And to hold us over until his episodes of How I Met Your Mother air, Alexis Denisof will be providing the voice of Mirror Master on this Saturday's episode of Justice League Unlimited. If you've never seen JLU, which is finally returning to complete what is probably its final season after a far too long hiatus, you must check it out. It's an amazing show. I regret that I was such a latecomer to it, and pray that they don't wait too long to release the DVDs. Also, it's voice talent reads like a who's who of Whedonverse actors. (Here's a list of who will be doing voices in upcoming episodes, courtesy of Whedonesque.com.) And if that's not enough to get you to watch (though if Alexis Denisof isn't enough, Adam Baldwin and an appearance, albeit small, from The Question should do it), Michael Rosenbaum (aka Smallville's Lex Luthor) will be voicing The Flash (one of my fav JLU characters) in a couple of episodes, including one where The Flash and Lex Luthor pull a body swap. Oh the meta referencing! How can you not love that?

OK, I'm going to let it out now. SQUEEEEE! Alexis Denisof is going to be on my television again! :)

Spider-Man 3

Why is all the enthusiasm I had, for movies that I was once so excited about, leaving me? I gave up on X-Men 3 quite a while ago, but now I'm starting to have my doubts about Spider-Man 3 as well. It was looking so promising too. Sandman and Venom were all but confirmed, with the potential for a new and interesting take on latter villain, via the casting of Topher Grace, that I never felt was as strong as his popularity suggested. Plus, it was looking like Harry Osborn was going to assume the mantle of the Green Goblin. Did it seem kind of crowded? Yeah, but in a good way.

But recent news about the movie is getting me a bit distressed. Maybe it's just that I'm no fan of love triangles, but it seems a bit late in the game to be adding Gwen Stacy and her father, Captain Stacy. Adding Gwen Stacy now is just sending off major Superman III vibes for me. And then there's just the fact that I was never that big a fan of the character. She spent too much time complaining about Peter being a bad boyfriend and blaming Spider-Man for her father's death without actually doing something proactive like breaking up with Peter for never being around. It always seemed to me that the most interesting thing about her was that she died. But then, I'm not all that familiar with that era of the comic books (I'm planning on doing my homework though).

Mostly I just feel that this is crossing a line as far as cluttering up the story. I can understand having two main villains, because I never thought that Sandman or Venom were strong enough characters to be the sole villain of a movie. And having Harry become the Green Goblin is just a continuation of the subplot that ran through the last film as well. But Mary Jane and Harry Osborn should provide enough of a personal story for Peter. And the nature of the Venom storyline, with the symbiote costume, should do plenty to screw with Peter's personal life too. I could understand it if it was Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, as she would present a temptation for Peter both romantically and as Spider-Man, as she's not exactly a good guy, but I fail to see what Gwen Stacy offers to the story other than being a secondary love interest. I'm curious if they plan on going with the Ultimate Spider-Man version of Gwen Stacy. I'm not a fan of Ultimate Spider-Man. I'm sure they are very good stories, but I already have a version of these characters that I quite like. I didn't feel the need for a new one (even if I have a problem with some of the stories). Also, as a long time fan of Spider-Man, I've kind of become attached to the supporting characters and villains as well, and many of them just don't resemble the original versions. There's more to a character than just the name. It always seemed to me that if you are going to completely change the character, you should change the name too. This is just a long way of saying that I'm not thrilled about seeing an Ultimate Gwen Stacy. The fact that I'm not impressed with the film version of Mary Jane doesn't give me much hope for the characterization of Gwen Stacy either.

It's amazing to me how two little characters can push me from being totally psyched about Spider-Man 3 to be kind of apprehensive. I was already concerned that the movie was going to be way too long, and now I'm afraid that too much of that time will be filled with romantic angst. I get enough of that from Smallville. And again, not a huge fan of love triangles. They so rarely work and often make characters that are supposed to be heroes too unsympathetic. Maybe if it was more of the light hearted love triangle that the comic books enjoyed, it could be fun, but seeing the first two movies I don't think that's going to happen. But I'm just going to have faith in Sam Raimi. Spider-Man 2 was amazing (no pun intended), so who knows what he'll be able to pull off this time around. The way he utilized his horror movie sensibilities in the last film makes me excited to see how scary he can make Venom. It could always be worse, too. Sam Raimi could have moved on to another project and Brett Rattner could have taken over directing duties and added a mutant hooker. And I have a lot more faith in Sam Raimi's ability to handle his ever expanding cast than I do in Brett Rattner's, because Raimi is talented. Plus, I look forward to any movie that has even a cameo by Bruce Campbell.

Supervillainy

When I think of supervillains, three stand out above the rest. These are the three that I look to as role models in my quest to move from amateur supervillain to professional supervillain. In order of greatness, they are:

1. Dr. Doom

2. Magneto

3. Lex Luthor

You can argue the order of this list, but never the content. Dr. Doom is the supervillain whose greatness I most aspire to. He has a whole nation at his disposal, Doom Bots, cool armor with a metal mask, the ability to shoot these cool power beams out of the palm of his hands, and, the thing that allows him to get away with it all, diplomatic immunity. Best of all, he wears that lovely cloak. I think I would look really nice in a green cloak. Failing that kind of power, I'll take Lex Luthor status. His wealth and political cloak allow him to get away with a lot. For the longest time, people didn't even know he was a villain. That's brilliant.

Obviously, I can never really be like Magneto. He fights for a cause, and as I don't believe in anything (apart from the Smallville Chlois Theory) I don't really see myself becoming that kind of supervillain. I do admire his arrogance though. As a matter of fact, I have yet to achieve the kind of sense of self worth that really sends you to the highest ranks of supervillainy. Dr. Doom, Magneto and Lex Luthor all see themselves as superior to all others. I can only manage to see myself as superior to most. I'm thinking of taking a course on boosting my self esteem. Maybe get some of those subliminal message tapes.

Another obstacle is that I seem to lack the necessary science background. Had I found my calling sooner, I could have majored in biology or physics in college. I had to go and get a useless degree in history. (Well, not completely useless. I learned a lot about revolutions and I plan to apply that knowledge when I overthrow my first government.) Even Lex Luthor, evil business leader and politician, is a scientific genius. And it goes without saying that Dr. Doom's brilliance in the field is second only to Reed Richards. How else would he be able to make all those Doom Bots?

My final obstacle is the lack of a good nemesis. Dr. Doom has Reed Richards. Magneto has Professor Xavier. Lex Luthor has Superman? Who do I have? I have thought about going around staging disasters like Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable, but I don't think my nemesis necessarily has to be indestructible, so that seems a bit pointless. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see. I imagine finding an archenemy is a bit like finding true love, when you find it you just know. And when I do find my archenemy, then I will truly know what kind of supervillain I will be. Until then, I'm doing my homework, studying Books of Doom, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and other great works of villainy.

And what if I never become the great supervillain I aspire to be? Well, I have back-up plans. I am also interested in the fields of piracy, witchcraft and paranormal expertise.

Oscar Nominations

So, I was all set to write about the Spider-Man and Friends cartoon in this update. For some reason, I had Firestar on the brain. Then I came home from work and found my copy of Entertainment Weekly, and right away I'm annoyed. It's the Oscar: The Ultimate Viewer's Guide issue, a special collector's double issue. Why am I annoyed? Well, it rained today, so naturally my special collector's double issue is all wrinkly from getting wet. It's not a big deal, because I wasn't going to keep it. But what if I was one of those people that did keep these collector's issues? I'd have to go out and get another one. Also, I just really like my magazines not to be bent or wrinkly or anything. I'm anal. I know.

Anyway, I was looking through the magazine, and it has all the Oscar nominations. I realize that I haven't seen any of these movies. (Well, I saw Crash, which I actually really liked.) Unfortunately, I just don't get to go to the movies much, or at all, anymore. I am practically a shut in. So when I do go to the movies, I'm just not likely to go see something like Good Night, and Good Luck or Capote. While I'm sure that they are really great movies that I will enjoy when I do see them, and I do think that all movies are better on the big screen, I just don't think I would regret not seeing them on the big screen the way I would have regretted not seeing King Kong on the big screen. Maybe it's because my tastes tend to be more geek than not. I don't know. I do know that King Kong was amazing looking, and 25 foot gorillas just don't look as good on your TV. Neither do dinosaurs. (Also, the Skull Island natives scared the hell out of me.)

I do think I would have liked to see Brokeback Mountain in a theater. A 24 inch television screen can't do Montana, or Ang Lee, justice. The other movies I'm willing to wait for DVD (though I wish I could go see every movie that came out in theaters like I used to). Consequently, when I decide who I'm rooting for on Oscar Night, it is largely going to be based on who I think will give the best acceptance speech (George Clooney), whether there is an actress in the running that I have an irrational hatred for (Chalize Theron), who I think is cute (Heath Ledger), or whose nomination amuses me because she was the girl who ate a deer in an episode of Smallville (Amy Adams). But that's about who I plan on rooting for, not necessarily who I think will win.

And is Oscar Night really about who deserves to win? Does it really matter if you've seen the movies? I say no. Even when I don't see the movies, I normally do pretty well with my picks just from being able to read all the "buzz." For example, when Roberto Benigni won for best actor, I knew. It was a pretty easy call actually. He was the one who was going on all the talk shows and had basically becoming Hollywood's little pet monkey. Personally, I can't stand the guy; I still can't bring myself to watch Life Is Beautiful; and I would have much rather seen the award go to Ian McKellan (for Gods and Monsters) or Edward Norton (for American History X). That same year Shakespeare In Love beat Saving Private Ryan for best picture. Now, I liked both films a lot and didn't really have a preference, but I wondered why anyone was surprised. Shakespeare In Love is a movie about writers and actors. Plus, it had the Miramax promotional budget behind it. How was it not going to win best picture? So when I make my Oscar picks, which will be right before the Oscars, these are the things I will be thinking about.

Now I'm going to go enjoy the cool articles about past Oscar winners and ceremonies. They're always the best part of any Oscar issue of Entertainment Weekly.