l***@large.com
2004-04-13 00:53:56 UTC
So, taking into consideration what we've already been asked to accept --
whether it's made sense or not -- (i.e. that Bette and CC have a thing;
that Kit is confused about a drag king; that Dana's lost her mind with
Tanya; that Shane loves a woman for no earthly reasons we've been shown;
and that Jenny somehow has become the sane one) -- accepting all that
unbelievable stuff as the starting point, the ep basically worked. It
left everyone with a choice (as Wolf put it), and things did build to a
colossal head in that sense. Or close to one. (Shane's "climax" was weak
imo but thrown in the mix it didn't matter much.)
Being positive, I thought the scenes between Bette and CC were good as
far as the "written" passion goes, (i.e. the scenes were written fine
but imo they don't have chemistry and I don't like the storyline, so...)
Still we finally saw women being intimate vs M/F sex. But the scene of
them making it up against Bette's office door was just ... not even a
smidge believable. Anyone would have come knocking to see what the
banging was about. And CC didn't even have her hammer with her. <g>
I *did* like how they all converged inside the Jesus gallery... and
Bette walking around holding Tina's hand. (Those two are *h-o-t*
together.) And I also liked how Tina saw Bette and CC at a distance, and
just the little gestures and intimacy she witnessed said it all. Ilene
didn't hit us over the head with it and we all got it. Well done.
Carrying through I also liked how Bette sees Tina sitting, staring at
her in the dressing mirror, and knows something is wrong immediately.
(But I did wonder about the ride home. Guess Tina would have waited to
get home. In shock and not wanting to talk in the car where you can't
really confront and look at each other.) But as far as Tina's slap I was
hoping for a bigger wallop. <g>
The sex scene afterwards was an emotional roller coaster... wondering at
first if Bette was raping Tina... watching the hurt explode into the
love that's obviously there. Laurel was amazing. So was Jennifer but it
was really Tina's scene. It was intense. But I wouldn't have liked it if
Tina stayed with Bette afterwards. It was good how it ended with her at
Alice's... the scene of her walking to the board.... very good.
And speaking of Alice, we didn't see a whole lot of her. But she's the
one who's always there. So sweet when Mr. Piddles was gone. (Did you
catch Tanya standing behind rolling her eyes at all the fuss over a dead
cat? Referring to Mr. P as "it"?) And thank gawd she comes to her senses
and raps on Dana's door at 4am to lay a wet one on her. I'd read a
spoiler about this months ago, so I knew it was coming. But I thought
they did a good job of foreshadowing it by Alice paying particular attn
to Dana over the season without being too obvious about it. I'm not sure
I can see Alice and D. together... they're both kind of goofy... maybe.
But I liked how Alice pulled back and Dana kissed *Alice* then. Rather
than leaving it all on Alice and not letting us know what Dana's
reaction was. It is definitely something to look forward to next season.
Shane. I don't have much to say there b/c that whole affair was wacky to
begin with. Shane is the maverick... never settles down... I know she
expressed an interest in finding someone on Seaman (the ship party), but
I don't see her being so stupid as to pick a married woman with kids who
has a shitload of money and is used to a certain lifestyle. Shane is not
that stupid. Plus I never saw any chemistry between them and nothing to
lead me to believe they were anything more than a casual fling to each
other. Would like to hear what others think.
The Jenny storyline was kind of nice after all, in this ep, if you take
out the entire middle boring part with Gene. The little trapeze girl
seems nice (and she turned out to be a pretty good actor too imo), and I
liked it that they all ended up all playing a board game together rather
than in bed. Maybe Jenny *is* growing up.
Seems Marina will be back since she thinks she's in love, unless we come
back 'after the fact' next season to find J. broke her heart, she sold
the Planet and moved somewhere.
And Kit. Ok. To be nice I *think* what they're trying to say is that Kit
is looking for love when love is staring her in the face. That Ivan is
perfect except she's a woman and Kit wants a man. Well you know what?
That's a HUGE fucking "except." I wouldn't be with a guy who thought he
could give me what I wanted, and I don't know why Kit should try to be
with a woman. And what was with going to the exhibit in drag? And
performing that number in the parking lot? Was that supposed to be
funny? Campy? Serious? Cute? And are we really supposed to think that no
one realizes Ivan is a woman when in drag? Or not? And couldn't they
have picked someone more physically compatible with Kit? Or was that the
point? That love doesn't always look like what it's 'supposed' to? Well,
that's fine, but 'they don't got love.' Kit said she wanted a man. Ivan
didn't hear that. Maybe Ivan figures Kit just needs a little
encouragement, but I never saw any tendencies in Kit in this series. In
fact when Shane said, "Liquor in the front poker in the rear" (play on
words from old ep), Kit said, "No thanks." And another point of
confusion for me... Kit keeps saying she wants a man, and she knows Ivan
is a woman, and insists she isn't leading Ivan on... yet she treats Ivan
like a male date, taking her arm, calling her "he." If Kit wanted to
discourage Ivan's romantic interest in her, wouldn't she at least refer
to Ivan as SHE and not take her arm as if she were her male date?
Oh well. Whatever. I did think the look Ivan gave Tanya at Mr. Piddles'
funeral was funny (after Tanya finally shook her hand and Ivan was
moving on). And Ivan has a certain charm that does grow on you, but her
gelled back hair reminds me of a mullet and her drag thing is too weird
in that I don't know how she expects anyone to take that seriously -- or
maybe she doesn't.
But all in all accepting the foundation as they laid it out for us --
for better or worse -- I give it a B. And I *do* want to know what
happens next season and I *will* watch. So they accomplished something,
despite all our complaints. :)
whether it's made sense or not -- (i.e. that Bette and CC have a thing;
that Kit is confused about a drag king; that Dana's lost her mind with
Tanya; that Shane loves a woman for no earthly reasons we've been shown;
and that Jenny somehow has become the sane one) -- accepting all that
unbelievable stuff as the starting point, the ep basically worked. It
left everyone with a choice (as Wolf put it), and things did build to a
colossal head in that sense. Or close to one. (Shane's "climax" was weak
imo but thrown in the mix it didn't matter much.)
Being positive, I thought the scenes between Bette and CC were good as
far as the "written" passion goes, (i.e. the scenes were written fine
but imo they don't have chemistry and I don't like the storyline, so...)
Still we finally saw women being intimate vs M/F sex. But the scene of
them making it up against Bette's office door was just ... not even a
smidge believable. Anyone would have come knocking to see what the
banging was about. And CC didn't even have her hammer with her. <g>
I *did* like how they all converged inside the Jesus gallery... and
Bette walking around holding Tina's hand. (Those two are *h-o-t*
together.) And I also liked how Tina saw Bette and CC at a distance, and
just the little gestures and intimacy she witnessed said it all. Ilene
didn't hit us over the head with it and we all got it. Well done.
Carrying through I also liked how Bette sees Tina sitting, staring at
her in the dressing mirror, and knows something is wrong immediately.
(But I did wonder about the ride home. Guess Tina would have waited to
get home. In shock and not wanting to talk in the car where you can't
really confront and look at each other.) But as far as Tina's slap I was
hoping for a bigger wallop. <g>
The sex scene afterwards was an emotional roller coaster... wondering at
first if Bette was raping Tina... watching the hurt explode into the
love that's obviously there. Laurel was amazing. So was Jennifer but it
was really Tina's scene. It was intense. But I wouldn't have liked it if
Tina stayed with Bette afterwards. It was good how it ended with her at
Alice's... the scene of her walking to the board.... very good.
And speaking of Alice, we didn't see a whole lot of her. But she's the
one who's always there. So sweet when Mr. Piddles was gone. (Did you
catch Tanya standing behind rolling her eyes at all the fuss over a dead
cat? Referring to Mr. P as "it"?) And thank gawd she comes to her senses
and raps on Dana's door at 4am to lay a wet one on her. I'd read a
spoiler about this months ago, so I knew it was coming. But I thought
they did a good job of foreshadowing it by Alice paying particular attn
to Dana over the season without being too obvious about it. I'm not sure
I can see Alice and D. together... they're both kind of goofy... maybe.
But I liked how Alice pulled back and Dana kissed *Alice* then. Rather
than leaving it all on Alice and not letting us know what Dana's
reaction was. It is definitely something to look forward to next season.
Shane. I don't have much to say there b/c that whole affair was wacky to
begin with. Shane is the maverick... never settles down... I know she
expressed an interest in finding someone on Seaman (the ship party), but
I don't see her being so stupid as to pick a married woman with kids who
has a shitload of money and is used to a certain lifestyle. Shane is not
that stupid. Plus I never saw any chemistry between them and nothing to
lead me to believe they were anything more than a casual fling to each
other. Would like to hear what others think.
The Jenny storyline was kind of nice after all, in this ep, if you take
out the entire middle boring part with Gene. The little trapeze girl
seems nice (and she turned out to be a pretty good actor too imo), and I
liked it that they all ended up all playing a board game together rather
than in bed. Maybe Jenny *is* growing up.
Seems Marina will be back since she thinks she's in love, unless we come
back 'after the fact' next season to find J. broke her heart, she sold
the Planet and moved somewhere.
And Kit. Ok. To be nice I *think* what they're trying to say is that Kit
is looking for love when love is staring her in the face. That Ivan is
perfect except she's a woman and Kit wants a man. Well you know what?
That's a HUGE fucking "except." I wouldn't be with a guy who thought he
could give me what I wanted, and I don't know why Kit should try to be
with a woman. And what was with going to the exhibit in drag? And
performing that number in the parking lot? Was that supposed to be
funny? Campy? Serious? Cute? And are we really supposed to think that no
one realizes Ivan is a woman when in drag? Or not? And couldn't they
have picked someone more physically compatible with Kit? Or was that the
point? That love doesn't always look like what it's 'supposed' to? Well,
that's fine, but 'they don't got love.' Kit said she wanted a man. Ivan
didn't hear that. Maybe Ivan figures Kit just needs a little
encouragement, but I never saw any tendencies in Kit in this series. In
fact when Shane said, "Liquor in the front poker in the rear" (play on
words from old ep), Kit said, "No thanks." And another point of
confusion for me... Kit keeps saying she wants a man, and she knows Ivan
is a woman, and insists she isn't leading Ivan on... yet she treats Ivan
like a male date, taking her arm, calling her "he." If Kit wanted to
discourage Ivan's romantic interest in her, wouldn't she at least refer
to Ivan as SHE and not take her arm as if she were her male date?
Oh well. Whatever. I did think the look Ivan gave Tanya at Mr. Piddles'
funeral was funny (after Tanya finally shook her hand and Ivan was
moving on). And Ivan has a certain charm that does grow on you, but her
gelled back hair reminds me of a mullet and her drag thing is too weird
in that I don't know how she expects anyone to take that seriously -- or
maybe she doesn't.
But all in all accepting the foundation as they laid it out for us --
for better or worse -- I give it a B. And I *do* want to know what
happens next season and I *will* watch. So they accomplished something,
despite all our complaints. :)