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On Wednesday, I caught a Dead Like Me ep that I don't think I'd seen before - looking at George and her father's relationship. (1.09 Sunday mornings). The Reapers as created family theme was pretty strong too. Anyway, Kevin Durand was guest starring in a sub plot involving Roxy. Summarised it goes: his character messes with Roxy, Roxy deals with him using Reaper powers, he starts a religion, Roxy has to be very mean to him to get him to revert to normal. The moral is not to mess with Roxy. It's very weird to watch Durand not being Joshua in Dark Angel. I usually do adjust to seeing actors playing different characters, unless if they're poor at it and it usually becomes more of a case of seeing the actor play themself. But Durand's a distinctive figure and actor, and apparently Joshua imprinted himself on me - of course, Joshua was a recurring character and I've only seen him in guest spots. At least the DLM stint wasn't as creepy as the CSI one.
ER: 13.2 Graduation Day
They didn;t get me with the twist that Joe was still alive. I don't think I was directly spoiled, but I got the impression from the season's ep titles so far that Joe was still around, and so I was suspicious of the ambiguity, and okay maybe I didn't want him to die. (It'd break them! LUKA!) Unlike - ahem - The OC's premier, where the twist go at me, this was still much better, though not as good as last week's opener. I felt that they were stretching to cover a lot of ground with the 'one week later' format. Still, the Abby/Luka angst and Neela's reaction to Gallant's death were gripping enough, though Sam's black holes of eyes topped everything. (I expect Alex's reaction to what his dad did and his death be what gets to Sam this year.) Morris was mildly amusing, although I could feel the writers were maneuvering - like they'd changed their minds about keeping him. Maybe he grew on them too?
I didn't remember whether Luka deserved to be the one rapped for Clemente and Kerry was being kind by taking it on her shoulders or whether she deserved it. WHATEVER, the point is more Kerry on the wards, which is obviously A GOOD THING.
From the shippy point of view (and to be honest, that's the most gripping matter) I spent about three quarters of the episode thinking that 'playing the long game' should become my motto. (To wit, look at Luka and Abby. This show does long-drawn out threads.) Because enter Gates with his nickname that nobody (I have no idea if there are a substantial number of Neela/Gates shippers in the world) really remembers to be the rebound guy - obviously he couldn't have taken advantage of a very drunk recent widow who he would be working with more closely. Unlike the bar guys. But still: Rebound Guy.
Sadly, he is also yet another 'cocky ass' new intern. I choked and spluttered a lot over Pratt making this dignosis - I have fond hopes that someone like Haleh will give Greg P the stinkeye on this point. I also felt sorry for Gates's paramedic partner who must be pleased to be rid of Mr Maverick. Considering Morris, PRATT, Ray and Luka at times have all been through this phase (and that's just the current cast) puhleaze.
In the midst of all this I found myself being very territorial for Ray - how dare another man be taking Neela home, looking out for her and restraining himself in her company!? On top of that, Pratt was the one who got to notice she'd been napping in the ER avoiding going home, while Ray walked past and didn't see it, though Pratt is still best placed to understand the Gallant grief. And there was protectiveness on my part too - a more serious point is that nearly everything Ray did this ep was expository and doctoring without a plot. Everyone else has something going on, whether it be angst or scrabbling for position. (If Abby stays off for a bit with Joe - my guess is she'll be in with Joe having complications anyway - could he be the Chief Resident or have something to do? Don't wste Shane West!). I surprised myself by how strongly I felt on this point, Ray has got under my skin more than I realised.
The ep, of course turned at the end, giving us the moment of chest-puffing when he and Gates met. I liked that they underplayed it comparatively - like I said, there was chest-puffing and verbal sparring, but it could have been worse. (I need to rewatch that scene, because I didn't catch Ray's response to Gates' comment about the room-mate who didn't try to sleep with Neela.) ANYway, given the lack of subtext between Neela and Ray in their brief conversation at work, all we got is that they are talking and have achieved the facade of neutrality, I was very pleased by this encounter, because it was a nice reminder, laden with ironies (not least Ray wearing a t-shirt saying 'Safety'. And looking quite good in it. He may not have the beauty of Goran Visnjic but...um, objectifying bad.)
Oh yeah, and we had a few moments of Allbright - good, I liked her abrasiveness. The teaser gave too much away again (or did it?), but WAS THAT BUSY PHILLIPS? imdb says 'Yes!' Ha.
I'm presuming that the title referred to Attending!Pratt and Morris. Oh well, at least Kerry is about to minimise their idiocies. (That review had a lot more brackets originally.)
ER: 13.2 Graduation Day
They didn;t get me with the twist that Joe was still alive. I don't think I was directly spoiled, but I got the impression from the season's ep titles so far that Joe was still around, and so I was suspicious of the ambiguity, and okay maybe I didn't want him to die. (It'd break them! LUKA!) Unlike - ahem - The OC's premier, where the twist go at me, this was still much better, though not as good as last week's opener. I felt that they were stretching to cover a lot of ground with the 'one week later' format. Still, the Abby/Luka angst and Neela's reaction to Gallant's death were gripping enough, though Sam's black holes of eyes topped everything. (I expect Alex's reaction to what his dad did and his death be what gets to Sam this year.) Morris was mildly amusing, although I could feel the writers were maneuvering - like they'd changed their minds about keeping him. Maybe he grew on them too?
I didn't remember whether Luka deserved to be the one rapped for Clemente and Kerry was being kind by taking it on her shoulders or whether she deserved it. WHATEVER, the point is more Kerry on the wards, which is obviously A GOOD THING.
From the shippy point of view (and to be honest, that's the most gripping matter) I spent about three quarters of the episode thinking that 'playing the long game' should become my motto. (To wit, look at Luka and Abby. This show does long-drawn out threads.) Because enter Gates with his nickname that nobody (I have no idea if there are a substantial number of Neela/Gates shippers in the world) really remembers to be the rebound guy - obviously he couldn't have taken advantage of a very drunk recent widow who he would be working with more closely. Unlike the bar guys. But still: Rebound Guy.
Sadly, he is also yet another 'cocky ass' new intern. I choked and spluttered a lot over Pratt making this dignosis - I have fond hopes that someone like Haleh will give Greg P the stinkeye on this point. I also felt sorry for Gates's paramedic partner who must be pleased to be rid of Mr Maverick. Considering Morris, PRATT, Ray and Luka at times have all been through this phase (and that's just the current cast) puhleaze.
In the midst of all this I found myself being very territorial for Ray - how dare another man be taking Neela home, looking out for her and restraining himself in her company!? On top of that, Pratt was the one who got to notice she'd been napping in the ER avoiding going home, while Ray walked past and didn't see it, though Pratt is still best placed to understand the Gallant grief. And there was protectiveness on my part too - a more serious point is that nearly everything Ray did this ep was expository and doctoring without a plot. Everyone else has something going on, whether it be angst or scrabbling for position. (If Abby stays off for a bit with Joe - my guess is she'll be in with Joe having complications anyway - could he be the Chief Resident or have something to do? Don't wste Shane West!). I surprised myself by how strongly I felt on this point, Ray has got under my skin more than I realised.
The ep, of course turned at the end, giving us the moment of chest-puffing when he and Gates met. I liked that they underplayed it comparatively - like I said, there was chest-puffing and verbal sparring, but it could have been worse. (I need to rewatch that scene, because I didn't catch Ray's response to Gates' comment about the room-mate who didn't try to sleep with Neela.) ANYway, given the lack of subtext between Neela and Ray in their brief conversation at work, all we got is that they are talking and have achieved the facade of neutrality, I was very pleased by this encounter, because it was a nice reminder, laden with ironies (not least Ray wearing a t-shirt saying 'Safety'. And looking quite good in it. He may not have the beauty of Goran Visnjic but...um, objectifying bad.)
Oh yeah, and we had a few moments of Allbright - good, I liked her abrasiveness. The teaser gave too much away again (or did it?), but WAS THAT BUSY PHILLIPS? imdb says 'Yes!' Ha.
I'm presuming that the title referred to Attending!Pratt and Morris. Oh well, at least Kerry is about to minimise their idiocies. (That review had a lot more brackets originally.)