06:30 Veronica Mars
07:30 Veronica Mars
08:30 Supernatural
12:30 Soap
01:00 Taxi
Veronica Mars. Episode 3. "Meet John Smith" The case-of-the-week is great - one of my favourites - and it ties neatly into Veronica's personal life and the backstory of the series. A young boy hires our heroine to find his father. But it's not a real case. He just wants to spend some time with the hot pi and he's neglected to tell her that his father is, in fact, dead. Veronica is soon onto his little game, but the investigation she has set in motion soon turns up a hit: the boys father is alive and hiding a secret. It's a good story, hard to predict where it will all end and the ending is sweet and emotional without being false or over-the-top.
Aaron Ashmore makes a great impression in this episode as Troy the boy who has been chasing Veronica since he first laid eyes on her. Their first date is great to watch (great chemistry between the actors) and the final moment (where she pulls away from his kiss) is heartbreaking to watch. But it's worth it just to see how great Troy is with his reaction (he just seems too good to be true, really). Paula Marshall makes her first appearance in this episode and (speaking of great chemistry between the actors) her scenes with Enrico Colantoni are wonderful.
This is the first/only episode to devote so much time to Duncan Kane and we get to see Duncan at home with his (hateful) parents, trying to stay off his meds, watching Veronica with Troy, and having a conversation with his dead sister. This was the episode that originally made me like Duncan, but - since the character never amounted to much in later stories - I soon came to regard him as bland.
Unlike the first two episodes, there is no sense of rough justice in this story. The case is crime-free and there is no real opportunity for anyone taking the law into their own hands. Interestingly, at one point Veronica does tell her dad that she is "old school: an eye for an eye". Very true.
Veronica Mars. Episode 4. "The Wrath of Con" Another enjoyable case-of-the-week (guest starring Kyla Pratt as the victim of some con men). Vernonica tracks the bad guys with typical gusto and - in the end - totally outwits them and makes sure that justice is done. Her way.
A lot of this episode flashs back to a night with Veronica, Lilly, Duncan and Logan. Truly great work from the cast shows us the friendship between the four of them and how much they had together. In the present day, Logan is trying to edit together a short film in tribute to Lilly and this marks the first that he and Veronica are halfways civil to one another. He might be a jerk but - as we are beginning to learn - his heart is in the right place. Sometimes.
Great to watch everyone's reaction to the finished film clip. Lilly's dad and Weevil being the most interesting...
Supernatural. Season 2, Episode 6. "No Exit" A good case-of-the-week and a nice break-from-formula with Sam taking a back seat (maybe due to Jared Padalecki's injured hand?) while Jo and Dean get most of the scenes. I've not liked Jo very much so far in the series, but I did enjoy her presence in this episode. It was fun to see Dean partnered with someone else and some of the scenes did a nice job of bringing out some new details about him. I don't buy them as a couple, but I could see him liking her and wanting to take care of her (like a little sister, maybe?). The twist at the end - which now gives her a reason to want to stay away from him - was pretty good. I'm interested enough by the revelation that I want to know the story behind it. My guess is that the mother-and-daughter are having a knee-jerk reaction to something that will turn out to be understandable.
The mother-and-daughter aspects of this episode are the only parts I didn't enjoy. I don't like them so I don't care to watch a scene of them fighting. It's a waste of time anyway, that scene at the very start, since even the most naive of viewers can predict from the get-go that Jo is going to disobey her mother and join the boys. And it's sad to see the show get predictable like this, since it spent the first season being quite fresh and un-predictable.
One final point: I absolutely hate it when Ellen scolds the boys. She's not their frakkin' mother and - as I wrote before - giving the boys an authority figure is a huge mistake for the show.
Never mind. Good episode.
Soap. "Episode 32" There are three truly superb scenes in this episode. The first features Danny and the woman he has been forced (by the mob) to marry. It's really only the second episode to show Elaine in a flattering light: most of the time she is a bitch to everyone. But with this episode she opens up to Danny and explains why she is so mean. It's a great scene. Short, and wonderfully performed. No part of the scene is played for laughs and it ends up being very touching.
The next scene in the episode is largely played as drama, as well. Mary and Burt have a chat about his tendency to work long hours and ignore the marriage. Both characters explain their point of view and Burt's - in particular - is very human and honest. He talks of his father and the life he had growing up and how it shaped the man he became. It's a wonderful scene. Nothing about it is forced or false. And, once again, you can see how much these two characters love one another.
Right after this, Soap delivers one of it's funniest-ever scenes and - according to online sources - the first time the word "horny" was uttered on network TV. Jessica, her daughters and her sister sit at the kitchen table - eat pie - and talk about how much they love sex and how they wish they were getting more. Not only is this scene hysterical from start to finish, it's hard to believe it comes from a show with a 1978 copyright date in the closing credits. This scene, like so many in Soap, is never trashy or naughty-for-the-sake-of-being-naughty, instead it comes across as true and human. It's obvious how much these women are in love with their partners. Susan Harris does a great job of making all her characters real amid the insanity of the plots. And this scene is one of her best.
Taxi. Episode 34. "Alex's Romance" My favourite episode of Taxi. I caught this episode in a late night re-run, many years after Taxi has finished and I had pretty much forgotten how wonderful it was, and it blew me away on every level and brought me back into the fold.
There are two reasons to love this episode. First, it's a great love story. Alex meets a woman, has a two-week whirlwind romance and decides to propose before she leaves the city forever. The chemistry between Judd Hirsch and his co-star Dee Wallace is amazing. They make you believe the implausible storyline. They have two big scenes. The first of these is their first time back in Alex's apartment following their first date. He is crazy about her, and keeps trying to kiss her. She is trying to push him away, but she can't resist his charm (try as she might). It's a scene of witty one-liners and (unusual for Taxi) physical comedy. It's also a very honest scene. All of his advances are very-Alex. And since Alex is television's quintessential everyman it is very easy to relate to, and empathise with, his attraction for this woman.
Their second scene together is The Big Proposal. And The Big Rejection. I have no words capable of praising this scene. It is so funny, so well-performed and so honest. There is not a false note in any of the emotions shown onscreen. It's hard to imagine the show ever being any better than this.
And then it gets even better. And delivers my favourite moment in all of Taxi. And, possibly, in all of television comedy. It's a scene I often reference and never tire of quoting. It's pure magic from start to finish and it earns some of it's biggest laughs without the use of any dialogue. And it's my second reason for loving this episode.
His lover has left the city and Alex sits away from the group in a state of sadness. To his rescue comes... Reverend Jim and Latka. Reverend Jim and Latka!! Two less-suitable characters it would be hard to imagine. And the moment where Alex looks up to see who has sat beside him, and slowly looks from one to the other is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. And, even better, it's comedy derived from character. It's funny because we know these characters and we know what they are capable of.
The scene that follows is painfully funny. Jim gives a speech that (in a weird way) makes sense and is (in a weird way) very inspirational. He sures inspires Latka, who becomes inexplicably fired up by it all and runs from the room to live out a better life. Alex watches all of this with complete bemusement and - when alone again - cannot resist breaking into a smile. Freeze frame. And a truly lovely moment. Life does go on after heartbreak, and this is a lovely way to remind us.
Highlight? Taxi (my favourite episode)
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Sun, Aug 17, 08 - Veronica Mars, Supernatural, Soap, Taxi
