Weekend TV notes
Why am I waking up at 7:30 am these days? I am so not a morning person, and this is throwing me off...
Anyway, brief weekend TV notes...
That was one of the better integrated A/B storylines Numb3rs has done, and although I couldn't give it quite my complete attention (cats were chasing moths like fiends), I didn't see any major plot holes, although the wrap-up seemed to be a bit rushed. In brief reactions I've seen, I've noticed some resistance to what Charlie did - I think more because people think, "Oooh, the show is trying to show that Charlie always knows best, boo hiss," and I didn't get that at all. I thought - for a change - they were actually showing him considering his options, keeping a level head, and doing the right thing. I have to say, I think that the negative reaction smacks of the anti-intellectualism that drives me nuts about Americans. In a society where Barack Obama - the interracial son of a single mother who grew up on food stamps in the 1960s, for Pete's sake - can get slammed for "elitism", whereas an upper middle-class woman like HRC or an admiral's son like McCain can be "just regular folks"... the mind really does boggle. I hate living in a society where being smart, educated, and intellectually curious/flexible is a negative.
::deep breath::
Anyway, it's not like he was giving out nuclear secrets - hey, Pakistan is already a nuclear power. And truth be told, helping more people be able to raise and afford their own food is the best way to avert more terrorism. On balance, Charlie did the right thing, and he's really being shown as a grown-up these days. I have mixed feelings about that, because they never really did explore his "awakening" and maturation enough for me. It got skipped over somewhere between S1 and S2.
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is undoubtedly the silliest Doctor Who episode since the reboot, but on its own terms, that's why it's relatively successful. It's ridiculous on any number of levels, but it's not trying to be deep or meaningful, which is all to the good. Frankly, The Doctor's Daughter was every bit as silly, it was just crashingly unaware of it, and preachy to boot.
As is well known, I am immune to David Tennant's so-called "charm". In fact, I may be allergic to it, because everything fandom thinks is "cute" or "awesome" about him makes me want to smack him. But, on balance, this is was one of his better outings. Other than the poisoning scene, which went on far too long - and I found Donna's "shock" technique kind of squirmy - this was just about bearable. He'd slowed down enough to articulate his lines in an intelligible manner, for the most part, and most of his tics were relatively restrained. The teeth-clacking and jaw-snapping were the most problematic, but there were times when he looked less like a Tex Avery cartoon and more like Chuck Jones. So. Yay. I fear it will not last.
I fell asleep during BSG. Must rewatch.
Anyway, brief weekend TV notes...
That was one of the better integrated A/B storylines Numb3rs has done, and although I couldn't give it quite my complete attention (cats were chasing moths like fiends), I didn't see any major plot holes, although the wrap-up seemed to be a bit rushed. In brief reactions I've seen, I've noticed some resistance to what Charlie did - I think more because people think, "Oooh, the show is trying to show that Charlie always knows best, boo hiss," and I didn't get that at all. I thought - for a change - they were actually showing him considering his options, keeping a level head, and doing the right thing. I have to say, I think that the negative reaction smacks of the anti-intellectualism that drives me nuts about Americans. In a society where Barack Obama - the interracial son of a single mother who grew up on food stamps in the 1960s, for Pete's sake - can get slammed for "elitism", whereas an upper middle-class woman like HRC or an admiral's son like McCain can be "just regular folks"... the mind really does boggle. I hate living in a society where being smart, educated, and intellectually curious/flexible is a negative.
::deep breath::
Anyway, it's not like he was giving out nuclear secrets - hey, Pakistan is already a nuclear power. And truth be told, helping more people be able to raise and afford their own food is the best way to avert more terrorism. On balance, Charlie did the right thing, and he's really being shown as a grown-up these days. I have mixed feelings about that, because they never really did explore his "awakening" and maturation enough for me. It got skipped over somewhere between S1 and S2.
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is undoubtedly the silliest Doctor Who episode since the reboot, but on its own terms, that's why it's relatively successful. It's ridiculous on any number of levels, but it's not trying to be deep or meaningful, which is all to the good. Frankly, The Doctor's Daughter was every bit as silly, it was just crashingly unaware of it, and preachy to boot.
As is well known, I am immune to David Tennant's so-called "charm". In fact, I may be allergic to it, because everything fandom thinks is "cute" or "awesome" about him makes me want to smack him. But, on balance, this is was one of his better outings. Other than the poisoning scene, which went on far too long - and I found Donna's "shock" technique kind of squirmy - this was just about bearable. He'd slowed down enough to articulate his lines in an intelligible manner, for the most part, and most of his tics were relatively restrained. The teeth-clacking and jaw-snapping were the most problematic, but there were times when he looked less like a Tex Avery cartoon and more like Chuck Jones. So. Yay. I fear it will not last.
I fell asleep during BSG. Must rewatch.