Thursday, April 27, 2006

I'm Getting Nervous Now

Two things made me a little queasy last night:

1. Drinking about a pitcher of beer followed by vodka on the rocks.
2. How 3 out of 8 remaining hours of Alias have passed, and how much they have left to resolve.

So now we know for a fact that it was Sydney and Jack hiding Vaughn... however, the scene just breezed by without much thought. We saw the Prophet 5 dozen - but were we supposed to have recognized any of them? I didn't see anyone familiar, so I don't care that we "saw" these random actors. Sloan got his cure for Nadia - but obviously that storyline is just getting started. And now Anna is a Sydney clone? (I hope the story isn't a clone of the season 3 finale where Lauren wore the Sydney mask and infiltrated the CIA offices.) The only thing I'll predict is that we saw the colored splotches again on the DNA Analyzer Machine (?), so whatever it is Sydney has, its likely the baby has it too.

But there a million more questions! There is no time for more questions - we need answers like every minute in the show now, if we are going to come to a satisfactory ending!!! Last night was great - Alias at its best - but there's just not enough time for that. Let's hope hour 4 brings us closer to resolution.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Answer Key

The Beautiful People season finale had some twists! If you took the quiz below, here are the answers:

1. b (The twist: Although Karen leaves her seemingly-player boyfriend for the photographer, in the last minute of the season, Karen finds out that she lost the modeling contest BECAUSE of the gruff photographer, so she's runs away. Will he win her back in Season 3?)

2. b (The twist: Lynn confronts her business partner, Maddie, about stealing and using again and tells her not to come back until she gets help, otherwise Lynn will turn her in for embezzlement. But in the second to last scene, Maddie tells Lynn that the whole business is in Maddie's name, so if Lynn turns her in, Lynn will lose everything! Will Lynn regain control of her business in season 3?)

3. a (The twist: The baby wasn't Chris'! (It was his brother's - who's in jail for armed robbery.) Although Sophie and Chris get together, Lynn forbids Sophie from dating him because of his shady past. Sophie openly disobeys Lynn, but at the same time wonders if it's all worth it. Will Sophie & Chris stay together in Season 3? If so, will Lynn accept their relationship?)

4. a (The twist: Although K does have too much time on her hands, M is very jealous. And also annoyed that she can't number from 1 to 5.)

5. ? (Don't know if the show has been renewed or not. Let us hold hands and pray for not. )

Audrey Sucks

Watched this week's 24 last night. The whole time, all I was thinking was: Shut the hell up Audrey! It was bad acting - but to be fair, she didn't have much to work with. What were the writers thinking? That scene dragged on much too long, and it just annoyed me.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

The Lost Experience

ABC and the Producers of Lost have announced "The Lost Experience" - a.k.a. something to keep us busy over the summer so the online community stops whining about re-runs. Supposedly the game allows players to follow a series of clues from various advertising outlets (i.e. emails, phone calls, billboards) which will help us "win" the game. Win what? A fabulous trip to Hawaii? An autographed coconut from the set? No, something "better"... more answers to the mystery of the island! Clues will start during the next new episode of Lost, which is May 3rd. And (surprise, surprise), the producers say its important to not TiVo through the commercials.

Is this a shameless play for more advertising dollars? Uh-huh. Will I definitely be playing? You betcha.

Check out these articles for more info:

eOnline Article
NY Times Article

Tricky ABC

For those of you who don’t have one, the TiVo has a setting that allows itself to only record first run shows. That means, if the show is a re-run, the TiVo won’t pick it up. Clearly, I use this setting for most shows.

With this being said, last night I sat down to watch (what I thought were) my new episodes of Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy. Were they new? NO. They were clip shows designed to help a new audience “catch up” on the season (which incidentally, has already been done before, earlier this season.) Now, unlike some others in the online fan communities, I don’t mind the re-runs now and then – it’s a necessity of network television. HOWEVER, I don’t like it when re-runs masquerade themselves as new shows, and raise my hopes for a nice little feel-good marathon. It just makes me mad. Furthermore – I hate, hate, hate clip shows, and it doesn’t even stop there! Lost this week is a clip show for Season 2 (again, the second time this season). ABC is really on a roll with me.

Well, hopefully I can get back to watching *new* TV for the rest of the week. Here’s my prediction for “show of the night”:

Monday (TiVo’d but not yet watched): 24 (Runner Up: How I Met Your Mother)
Tuesday: Scrubs (Runner Up: The Unit)
Wednesday: Alias (Runner Up: Invasion)
Thursday: Smallville (Runner Up: Commander In Chief)
Friday: Las Vegas (Runner Up: uh... ?)

Monday, April 24, 2006

Beats the Earth, Wind & Fire Musical

I re-watched High School High, the Disney Channel musical, this weekend. Okay – I actually re-watched it about three times. I’ve decided that it not just a guilty pleasure – it’s actually a really good musical! Catchy music, on screen chemistry between the actors and a fast-moving script make this movie musical fun and easy to watch. Like this CNN article says: its Grease meets Romeo and Juliet, (although with the a little bit of a mousekateer feel.)

Although the whole time I hoping that Gabrielle, the mega-genius new student, and Troy, the cutie captain of the basketball team, get together and score the leads of the high school music, I still felt sad for Ryan and Sharpe, the established drama-club brother and sister team, whose world is turning upside down.

After the first time through, my favorite song hands down was “Get Your Head In The Game” (which had the cool basketball choreography), this time around, I just can’t get “Something I’ve Been Looking For” out of my head (and yes, they're both officially iPoded.) If you’re too far from (or like me, can’t afford to go to) Broadway, then I highly recommend you try this out.

If you secretly enjoyed movies like The Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted (and I know some of you out there did!) then definitely watch this movie.

Beautiful People Season Finale Tonight

Yes, behind the scenes, I've been continuing to watch ABC Family's Beautiful People. The season finale is tonight, and we are left with a few questions. To prove how bad this show is, I will administer a quiz for you non-watchers (i.e. all of America), and I'd put good money that anyone in the world will be able to predict what happens tonight.

1. Who will Karan choose?
a. Rich, smooth-talking boyfriend with gelled back hair
b. Gruff photographer she's worked with all season, but really has a heart of gold

2. Who's pilfering money from the new business?
a. Dependable Lynn Kerr (main character)
b. Lynn's ex-coke addict business partner who's been shifty lately

3. Will Chris, the new studly scholoarship student with a secret past, and Sophie get together, despite the fact that it turns out that Chris is a teenage father?
a. Yes
b. No

Okay, do your best, and I'll let you know the answers after tonight's season finale. Let's just pray that the answer to Question 5 is (a)....

5. Will this show ever leave me alone and just die???
a. Yes, there is hope for M, and this show will be cancelled.
b. No, this is payback for enjoying that episode of According to Jim, and there are at least three more seasons left.

What About Boring

Okay - I've really tried to like JJ's new show, What About Brian, (ABC, Mondays @ 10pm). But there's just not really anything to like about it. The characters? Shallow and unlikeable. For example, Brian, the title character, slept with two roommates in a 24 hour timespan, and we, the primarily twenty-something female audience, are supposed to be sympathizing with him? Or how about Adam, Brian's best friend, that is engaged to the woman that Brian is inlove with - are we to believe that despite his slimy vibes he will turn into the perfect fiance overnight? And finally we have the married couple, with the wicked wife who wants an open marriage and the spineless husband who won't say no.

Then we have the storyline - generic and limited. How many times have we seen this storyline (guy inlove with a girl he can't have) in prime time? Ross & Rachel. Billy & Ally McBeal. Noel & Felicity. And from these shows, we know that we are in for a few months of "will they or won't they", followed by a seemingly infinite flip-flopping of on-again/off-again.

At best this show could be a mediocre daytime soap. At worst, this show is boring. Quite frankly, I don't care about Brian, and I'm sure ABC will agree with me by May.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Agent Kane

So in my re-discovery of my Alias obsession, I found this on Wikipedia...

For the fifth season, another credit sequence was designed... Also, the flashing of the letters when ALIAS is spelled out is actually in morse code. The flashing translates to AGENT KANE.
WHAT???? How have I missed this major clue? Well, that's a stupid question, I know why, and its two part: a) I hate the introduction now - I was hoping they'd go back to classic b&w intro and b) I actually have a life and would never think to decipher morse code from the opening credits of my (admittedly) favorite show.

Classic

Like JJ said - Alias is meant to be a family drama taking place in a world of espionage. Over the seasons, most of the questions floating around in my head have to do with Jack and Irena and their devotion to Sydney. This episode was classic in the way it made you question and re-question Irena's loyalty. After Sovogda, we were left with warm fuzzy feelings for her. Then at the end of Horizon, we were stunned, but still were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Finally, throughout SOS and Maternal Instinct we asked one more time to consider Irena's true loyalties - herself? Sydney? Prophet 5? Some other greater Order? How many times can Irena turn before we (& Sydney!) decide enough is enough? I guess we have six (and a half?) hours left to see.

In the mean time, check out my top 3 lists for the return....

Ready? Here we go...

Top 3 WTF?!?! Moments:
1. "Peter" Grace?
2. Jack trusted Irena??
3. The colored, flashing patches on Sydney's sonogram???
*Note: I did not think the return on Vaughn qualified to be on this list since we all knew he was alive and returning.

Top 3 Made-Me-Grin-Ear-to-Ear Moments:
1. The SpyFam working together again
2. Dependable, loyal Weiss coming to the rescue
3. Sydney holding her new baby

Top 3 *New* Mysteries Posed:
1. Who are Thomas/Peter Grace & the Cardinal?
2. Who is the second APO mole?
3. Who was in charge of hiding Vaughn?

Top 3 *Continuing* Mysteries Re-Posed:
1. What is the Horizon?
2. What is the goal of Prophet 5?
3. What is so special about Sydney's offspring?

If I Could Only Have 3 Questions Answered:
1. What was Rambaldi's intended endgame?
2. Is Irena good or evil?
3. Who are the "order of Rambaldi"?

And finally... a special question posed by my sister K (who I whole-heartedly agree with)... What was up with Dixon's hair? The micro-dreds don't really seem to fit in with the ultra-slick spy world.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Count Down: 8 1/2 Hours

ALIAS RETURNS TONIGHT ON ABC, 8PM EST.

"It all started with a question...."

So who, in fact, does Sydney Bristow work for? The answer may surprise us yet. Let us not be quick to forget Lauren's prophetic last words - "We're both pawns in the same game. The difference between us is: I know who controls me."

There are just so many things to look forward to in the upcoming weeks: secrets revealed, deaths galore, conspiracies unraveled, Rambaldi's end game, Sloan's end game, EVERYBODY'S ENDGAME. My mind is literally exploding right now in anticipation. And since the show is cancelled, the writers should be able to do whatever the hell they want - I hope they take full advantage of that! Well, I've gone and tuckered myself out with excitement... join me and take your naps now so your brains will be fully rested for the spring premier tonight. Does it get any better than this?