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February 25, 2007
SVU: Is Elliot back home?
We're not sure.. but I think so. At one point, while working hard on this week's case, Elliot is told to take a break and "Go Home." He gets a look on his face, a kind of wistful smirk that made me think HE was thinking, "Yeah, I think I will, now that I have something to go home to again. " Of course, at that moment, more evidence on the case comes in and he has to stay at work anyway. (Isn't that always how it goes? )
The case this week was one of a kidnapped baby, stolen right out of his crib while mom had some friends over. Mom believes her ex-husband, who has some gambling debts to pay, may have done it for money. It doesn't take long to find the ex, who runs with a bag that looks as if it could contain the kid. Elliot pursues him and just as El and the uniform guys catch up with the ex, on a bridge, he tosses the bag over the side. Elliot, thinking the bag has the kid in it, jumps into the water. The bag turns out to be full of drugs. The ex-husband, Tom, was being a mule for someone, trying to earn the money to pay off his debts. He says he truly loves his kid and is now worried that the guys he was supposed to deliver the drugs for may have taken him as punishment or payment because he did not complete his assigned task.
They go back to Mom and ask her if she felt she had been followed or watched lately. She had. She felt someone was watching her at the park, on walks, and at other times. But when the detectives questioned people around those areas, they all remembered seeing MOM, but never remembered seeing a baby. With this, Cragen realized that they only had mom's word that the kid was stolen at all. No one else but her had seen him recently. Perhaps mom killed the kid?
Into this mix comes a tabloid TV reporter, Cindy something, played by Kali Rocha, the same gal who plays the sickeningly sweet Dr. Sydney Heron on Grey's Anatomy. In SVU this week, she is a ruthless gossip monger, so different from the Dr. Sydney role she is completely transformed. I had to look hard several times just to assure myself it was the same person.
She grills the mom HARD about her kid's disappearance, to the point where she clearly shows, and on national TV, that she suspects that the mom may have done harm to her own son. Elliot finds mom dead in her apt. soon after, having hung herself, unable to hold up to the questioning, the guilt, and the loss of her son.
Blonde hairs found on the fire escape outside the kids room (Kendall, the missing child, was taken from a window near the fire-escape) turn out to be Kendall's. The detectives can run a DNA test from the hair that will turn up any and all relatives of Kendall's, so that they can now question them. They learn that the ex-husband is NOT Kendall's father. He had no idea of this, but still loves Kendall and wants to raise him now that Mom is gone. Elliot asks if he might know who the father is. He doesn't, but does remember that mom had bad dreams where she asked "Paddy" to stop! Paddy was an ex-boyfriend who used to beat her.
Using the family DNA report they got from the hair, they track down a family with the last name of "Kendall". An uncle in prison tells them he has a sister with a family of sons about the right age. One of them may be the kid's father.
In the end, we learn that Paddy is one of the Kendall family sons, and that his mom wanted a grandchild so badly she offered to buy him a car, care for the kid, and pay for everything, if her son would only steal him. They are able to prove that Paddy has a history of violence and give the child back to the ex-husband.
The episode ends with Olivia, who was not seen much this week (Cragen had her working on another case.), getting a family DNA report of her own. Having learned the technology exists, she has a report run on herself to see if she has relatives out there. She learns she has a brother as the episode ends.
The promos for next week show Olivia meeting the brother... and learning he is NOT a good guy. Looks like Olivia may put her career on the line to help him out too. Oh, Boy.
Posted by Marenkay at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
Lost: And The Three Questions Answered ... Were????
I have absolutely NO idea. Don't get me wrong, I DID like this episode of Lost. But I did NOT like the ABC promos that promised us "Three Big Questions Answered" that definitely were not. I have been watching this show since Day One and reading everything I can get my hands on about it, and for the life of me, and all the other fans I've talked to, I can not figure out what three things we allegedly learned.
We learned what Jack's tattoo means. But I don't know of one single fan that cared about that. Besides, did we REALLY even learn what it meant? As he said, "He walks among us, but is not one of us." is what it TRANSLATES to, but NOT what it means. So, what does that give us? Nothing.
We learned that Kate doesn't love Sawyer and only said that to save his life. (Whoopee, like we didn't know THAT already.) AND, I'm not sure she's in love with Jack either. Concerned for him, yes. Feeling bad about leaving him behind, yes. But in love with him?? I'm not convinced of that.
We learned that Juliet is in "big trouble", that the Others still aren't nice people, and that Jack falls in love with just about every woman he comes in contact with in short order. All things we already more or less knew.
This was a transitional episode to be sure. A build to something to come. Every episode can't provide a big earth-shaking reveal and that's OK. It was a good episode and we learned more about Jack, his issues, and the kind of man he is. We learned more about Juliet and the OTHERS. We had some entertaining scenes with Sawyer, Kate, and Carl. (I LOVED Sawyer telling Carl to "Cowboy Up!" and then sending him off to find his "true love." Smart, Sawyer.. he will have to take the BOAT with him.. won't he?? Goodbye, Boat.)
But don't promise us something big is coming and then not deliver it. THAT is what is pissing off fans of Lost. Don't build us up for a big reveal and then not deliver. In fact, it's probably best not to promo those "big" days at all. What entranced us in the first season was not knowing what to expect.. that you could be watching the story go peacefully by and you got an unexpected, jaw-dropping surprise. (like the smoke monster confronting Eko for the first time.) Promo-ing the "big stuff" to death, to me, signals desperation. It says to me that ABC knows fans are frustrated and feels a need to rope them in. LOST used to keep us guessing. Now, it's just building up our hopes and then dashing them. Thanks, ABC.
Oh, one more thing... Does anyone else think that "the Sheriff", the older woman who read Jack's tattoo and decided Juliet's fate is the same woman that was in Desmond's flashback (or time travel back) last week? The one that sold him the ring? Her hair is severely pulled back in Desmond's episode, and loose or down in this episode, but I think it's the same gal. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Posted by Marenkay at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2007
CSI: The Model Killer Strikes Again
Grissom finally opened the mail that had piled up on his desk during the Walden Pond sabbatical, and as we all suspected, the large box contained another murder scene replica from the model killer. Before he took his break, Grissom got a confession from Ernie Dell, a mechanic at a poultry factory who made models as a hobby. Ernie presented his confession to Gil via a video tape which ended with Ernie shooting himself. Case closed, we thought... But, guess not!
The new model depicts a woman laying on her couch as if she meant to take a nap. Mascara stains on the pillow next to her lead Gil to believe the victim has been smothered. The bloody doll and newspaper headline, featured in each of the models so far, are there as well. Something new, however, is seen on the newspaper. The newspaper is dated two days into the future! This murder has not happened yet.
Gil and his team hope to prevent this murder from happening and to catch the perp in the act. Further examination of the model reveal some take out menus. Gil overlaps their delivery areas to arrive at a small radius of condo and apt. buildings to search. Using the description of the apt. and vic provided by the model, they find the apt. of the intended victim. She is Barbara Tallman (played by Kathleen Quinlan), a well-known psychotherapist. Barb seemed to be not all there and only moderately concerned when the CSI's told her they were there to prevent her murder.
They posted a plain clothes cop on the couch in the same position and clothing that the model's victim was found in, and kept watch over the scene with a surveillance camera. A man did approach the apt. and was arrested, but he turned out to be Dr. Tallman's brother, just coming for a visit. When Sofia, who had been watching the tape, went into the room to relieve the decoy cop, they found her dead on the couch, just as the model had predicted. They even found a dead cat on the bookshelf behind the books, which had also been present in the model. What could have killed the cop and the cat? How did they miss catching the perp? He had set a timer to a gas fireplace in the apt. that he had "altered", releasing Carbon Monoxide into the room. Right outcome, but wrong victim.
Later, Barbara Tallman is also found dead, also on the couch. We learn that this time, it was not the model killer's handiwork, but that of Barbara's brother. Dr. Tallman had rapidly advancing Parkinson's and wanted to die. Her brother, copied the model killer's method figuring everyone would just assume that the model killer got her.
Sara (in the only scene we saw her in - no Gil/Sara stuff this week.) found some older videotapes of Ernie Dell, the older gentleman they all thought had been the model killer. Viewing them, she discovered he has a son, who is also has a talent for building models. She questioned him (and he definitely seems out there.) but were satisfied that he was not the one. However, they learn through him that his dad and mom had foster children, all of whom dad felt closer to than his biological son. He spent a lot more time with the "chosen Kids", his son said, and any one of them could be building these models. The episode closes as a video of one of Ernie Dell's birthday parties rolls. There are 13 foster kids at his birthday celebration. Any one of them could be the killer, and they are all still out there to be found.....
Posted by Marenkay at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
How to Save a Life - Ferry Disaster Part 2
Part two of the Ferry Disaster was titled, "Drowning on Dry Land", and everyone certainly is. But I couldn't help thinking of The Fray song, "How to Save a Life" that closed season 2. The non-Meredith parts of this episode focused on each of the other interns, who by saving a patient in one way or another, move closer to finding their place in the surgical community they're striving to join.
Alex is back at the hospital, inundated with family and friends of ferry riders looking for answers about their loved ones. Alex wants desperately to give them information, and to find the family of "his" victim, the pregnant woman he saved at the scene last week. He decides to go to the morgue and take pictures of the victims there to help answer his questions and theirs. He finds a pregnant woman in the morgue and a man looking for a pregnant woman. Sadly, his wife is the one in the picture, not the one Alex saved. Alex's search for the family of his patient goes on.
Izzy is still working on the man stuck under the car. He is seizing badly and Search and Rescue is still not available to release him. They can not transport him to SGH, so Izzy must relieve the growing pressure on the man's brain on site - with a power drill. Chief talks her through it and she successfully completes the task, buying the fire dept. the time they needed to get him out and into the ambulance. When she arrives at SGH with her patient, Chief congratulates her and takes her off probation. Izzy is back in the game. She is even allowed to assist in the patient's surgery.. until her beeper interrupts with a much more personal emergency.
George is still looking for the seven year old son of the patient he removed from the scene. As the mom entered surgery, he promised her he would find her son. Using a picture the mother had given him, he looks everywhere, including the morgue where Alex was photographing victims. He ends up finding the boy on Callie's surgery table. Callie is her usual CALLOUS self to George, "I'm working." her words and "Leave me alone!" the message as he inquires about the boy. As Izzy tells George later, this marriage was a BIG mistake.
Cristina has spent most of the day wondering where Meredith is. She still hasn't been able to tell her the big engagement news! Soon, she learns of Meredith's fate and Burke learns that Cristina's world doesn't "work" without Meredith. "She's my person.", Cristina tells Burke. I'm sure he wonders, "Then what the hell am I?"
Derek, on the scene at the Ferry, has been looking for Meredith and finds the silent little girl. He remembers that she had been clinging to Meredith's side and asks her where she is. She ominously points to the still, black water.
Derek is next seen carrying a very blue and unconscious Meredith out of the water. She is hypothermic, not breathing, and quite possibly, not waking up again. Derek works endlessly to revive her.
Meredith is worked on by the entire senior team once she arrives at SGH. Derek, who is shattered, is dismissed by the chief and crumples to the floor in the hall outside the room. Sloane (McSteamy), sits besides him and comforts him. The interns rally around, having been summoned by beeper from wherever they were. Cristina is quite unspooled, and all await the news. Izzy gives George an "I believe" speech in which she tells him his marriage to Callie was a big mistake. Bravo to Izzy for coming out and saying that..but all I could think of was Crash Davis' "I believe in" speech in Bull Durham.
After working on Meredith for way too long, we see her monitor flatten and she coughs and sits up. She is no longer flanked by the Chief and Bailey. By her sides are Denny Duquette and the "bomb guy" (Kyle Chandler). She realizes that if she is seeing them, she must be dead. When she asks them, "Am I dead?" Denny says, "Damn right you are!"
Follow this link to YouTube to see an excellent video recap of this episode set to music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KpY3WYq85o&mode=related&search=
This week's episode is entitled, "Some Kind of Miracle." That, combined with the fact that this show is called GREY'S Anatomy, makes me think that Meredith will pull through. However, I'm hearing rumblings that SOME major character will NOT survive this week. My best guess on that is Meredith's mom, since she was entering heart surgery as this day began. We shall see.
Posted by Marenkay at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2007
Desmond and Penny: A LOST Valentine's story
I've watched this episode over again, I've taken notes and read other people's notes, and I'm still not sure I've totally got this episode right.
Charlie and Hurley are determined to figure out why Desmond seems to be able to see the future. He knew Locke was going to give a speech, he knew the lightening was going to hit Claire's tent. As they are raiding Sawyer's stash, (there will be hell to pay when Sawyer gets back!), they find a 60 yr. old bottle of Scotch (nice) and decide to loosen up Desmond with drink and get to the bottom of this.
They learn what happened to Desmond after he turned the key on the hatch when the numbers counted down... and it seems to me like he literally time traveled back to his former life in England. He's back with Penny, they're happy, he's going to see her dad to ask for her hand in marriage (she thinks he's going to ask Dad for a job. Dad thinks that too.) Dad slams the door on Des' hopes of approval from him, saying he is as unworthy of his daughter as he is of the same 60 yr. old Scotch that Dad pours for himself and sips right in front of Des.
Des plans to marry her anyway and goes to buy a ring. In this antique shop where he is browsing at rings, the older woman saleslady tempts him with a ring he can afford, and then tells him he CAN'T marry Penny, he MUST go on the boat race, He MUST find himself stuck on the island for 3 years.. (Note: Juliet was ALSO on the island for 3 years.. but Dharma's been around since the 70's... what happened three years ago to bring these islands and their people to where they are today? ) Some guy in red shoes comes off the subway and immediately gets crushed by a scaffold, and it's clear that this white haired chick knew it would happen and was intent on making sure Desmond KNEW that she knew. Creepiest of all... I'm PRETTY SURE that this white haired chick is a blond haired older woman ON THE ISLAND in the promos for next week.
Des takes the ring anyway. He meets Penny out on the street. They have a fun, romantic afternoon. They take the picture that Des has with him always on the island. Then, suddenly, Des decides that the white haired woman was right and calls it off with Penny saying he can't be with her... breaking her heart.. and throws the ring into the Thames. Next we know, he's back on the island. The hatch is imploded. He's naked in the woods... with red paint all over him just as he was when he first arrived in the flat in England... He even has a hell of a headache! It's THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.
Or... Desmond is Sam Beckett... and the white-haired chick is the "Evil Leaper." OR ALL the Others are time travelers... and Charlie is going to die.. but Des keeps saving Clair or.... oh, now I'm the one with the headache.
Next week, it looks like we're back to the Jack, Juliet, Ben stuff again. The ratings for this Desmond-Centric episode were the lowest they've ever been for LOST, and I'm not sure why. It was interesting.. it was romantic.. Desmond is cute!, and it got back to "our Losties" on their island, and away from the Jack/Kate/Sawyer show, which is what most fans supposedly wanted. The new time slot, no strong lead-in show, and more people DVRing and less watching live are all possibilities. Could also be that people want more answers... at least, that's what I've read. I wouldn't mind a couple of answers.. but the trip "down the rabbit hole" is the fun of Lost, if you ask me. If we solve all the mysteries, RIGHT NOW.. and don't create any new ones... what's left that anyone would want to watch?
Posted by Marenkay at 10:56 PM | Comments (1)
House: Feeling No Pain
This week's House was not as good as last week's. There were several developments that I had seen hinted at in spoilers that I was VERY unhappy to see happen. The case wasn't the most interesting I've seen either..
The Case
A teenage girl and her mother came to PPTH after an auto accident. The teen has CIPA, a rare condition that renders her unable to feel pain. House is fascinating with her case for two reasons; its rarity AND the possibiltiy that her disease could provide an answer to his constant pain.
House had recently read some research that indicated that it may be possible to take cells from a CIPA patient's nervous system and implant them into his own, growing "pain resistant" nerve cells that would end his chronic pain. This procedure is very new, still highly experimental, and risky to both the patient and him. The spinal nerve biopsy required to begin this procedure could permanently paralyze the patient. House, even in the rare event that this would actually work, would need to be on immuno-suppressants for the rest of his life. Of course, House wants to go full steam ahead and do this.. and without the patient's consent. Instead, he plans to scam her spinal cells under the guise of a necessary diagnostic test.
Fortunately, complications and continued declines in the teen's condition prevent him from doing the biopsy, PLUS Wilson makes a convincing argument NOT to do it which looks like it MAY have actually sunk in to House's hard head, at least a little bit.
After numerous tests and cutting into this poor girl several times without anesthesia and with her AWAKE AND WATCHING.... He decides that her worsening symptoms and declines despite all their treatments are due to a MONSTER tapeworm... which he removes in front of the patient and all the astonished surgeons like a magician pulling the never-ending hanky out of the hat.
All I could say was, "OH GOOD, ANOTHER PARASITE." I've watched all the Season 1 and 2 episodes multiple times, and most of the Season 3 so far as well, and I believe that close to HALF the cases have been due to some parasite. Lines in the Sand (the autistic boy this season), Euphoria 1 and 2 (Foreman almost dying LAST season.), the pilot episode, and countless others. I think there has even been a TAPEWORM before. Come on, House writers.. are there really that many vicious parasites out there just waiting to kill us all? Maybe there are?? Trying to scare us into staying inside and watching TV all the time to avoid them?
The Docs of PPTH
This was the Valentines' Day episode of House, so given that all the docs of PPTH are severely relationship-challenged, we witnessed an odd collection of events in honor of the VD holiday.
House goes to Cuddy to get permission to do the nerve biopsy and immediately notices that she does not have hat hair despite the evil winter weather outside.. surmising that she MUST have a blind date. Later, of course, he tracks her down at the coffee bar where she is having the blind date and proceeds to interfere and make a jealous fool of himself. Later, he tops this pathetic display with another at her house, where she is "entertaining" the date further. He goes out of his way to bust up the evening for her, but she helps quite a bit by loudly asking House if he is there because he wants her for himself. The blind date laces up his shoes and gets out of there ASAP, and who can blame him??
Foreman celebrates Valentines Day by: a) working till 3AM when his nurse girlfriend has a nice evening planned for them and b) presenting said nurse girlfriend with an acceptance letter to a Nurse Practitioner program he recommended her for... IN BOSTON. Way to shove her out the door, Eric...
Worst of all, Cameron, who had a discussion earlier with Foreman about how she has no social life and wishes she had time for one... asks CHASE as they leave work if he'd like to basically be her..F%$#K buddy, since they like each other, neither has time, it's quick, convenient, easy ... (as Chase puts it, "like Microwave Pizza?")
Personally, I'd rather have a BIG DISH OF VINDALOO CURRY than Microwave Pizza any day!!!
I really don't like the idea of Camers with Chase OR even the slightest HINT of a possibility that House wants Cuddy. Please... NO.... But I did like the banter between House and Wilson about the Tranny nurse. FUNNY stuff... and the kind of cute, silly, goofing around discussions real "guy friends" have with each other..
No House for 2 weeks now due to 2 hour American Idol shows on 2/20 and 2/27... When House returns on 3/6, it will feature the case of a musical savant, AND give Hugh a chance to show off some of his own musical prowess. Looking forward to that!
Posted by Marenkay at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2007
A Birthday Tribute - Redux
Last year, when my blog was less than a week old, and had fewer readers than it does today, I posted this tribute to a TV addict no longer with us. Now updated to be relevant in 2007, the sentiments being sent out are the same.
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It is appropriate that today, a day that finds us mid-sweeps and ankle deep in Chicago snow with a wealth of TV joys to be had, is also the birthday of the biggest TV fan I ever knew. He would be lovin' life right now.
He was a lover of all things on screen, movies and TV, comedies, dramas, variety, concerts, sports.
He was an encyclopedia of actor names and career history. A veritable living IMDB. One look at the most obscure actor and he could name him or her, and the last three things he or she had been in. (A trait he seems to have passed down to his offspring.)
He worked shift work - 7-3P one week, 3-11P the next week, 11-7A the week after that. So, he could watch all things at all times. And he did. He was just as familiar with daytime and late night offerings as he was with primetime. His favorite shows? Anything war (Combat, Rat Patrol), Westerns (Wild, Wild, West especially), Variety Shows, MOVIES.
In the days of one TV in the home, he had to fight with his feisty little girl for control of the dial, or in later years, for a bizarre remote that looked a lot like a drink pouch and literally gasped air when you pushed it to change the channel.
That remote made him one of the early channel surfers, flipping around the six channels offered at the time, over and over and over again until someone (usually that feisty daughter again) threw the "TV GUIDE" at him and said, "PICK SOMETHING!!! "
He was no longer around for Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, all the Law and Order's, all the CSI's. He would have loved them. The house he lived in still only has one TV, broadcast only. (No cable!!! No holes in my walls!) But if he were around, I can assure you, that house would have a big screen HDTV, TiVo and every channel that's out there. He would have been retired by now, and watching TV Land, Spike TV Bond Marathons, and AMC non-stop. And how we would have loved the "31 Days of Oscar" that airs each year on TCM at this time.
He would have been damn proud too, that that feisty little girl still loves TV, has picked up his habits of channel surfing and being an actor/actress reference book, and is writing about TV and working in media.
So as I spend this Feb. 15th using my TIVO to record CSI and Grey's at once, and to watch Lost a second time (so that I can write about it!), I'll give a happy birthday toast to my Dad - the guy who made me and my brother! the TV junkies we are today.
Posted by Marenkay at 10:10 PM | Comments (1)
February 14, 2007
Elliot, a Killer?
We know our Elliot would never intentionallly murder anyone. But we also know that he's got a reputation for flying off the handle and having anger issues. So, when Elliot's pursuit of a perp gets a little rough and the perp stops breathing and dies right there on the street, IAB immediately assumes Elliot when over the edge and they put him on suspension.
The case started normally enough, normal for an SVU case anyway. A father, who we learn later is a mob lawyer, is bringing his young son home. As they enter the house, they see someone run down the hall. Dad gets hit on the head with a blunt object. The kid runs to mom's room, where he tries to wake mom. Mom is quite dead. There is an older sister, but she is not home. Told mom she would be spending the night with a girlfriend.
Dad is taken to the hospital. The son is being looked after and talked to by Huang, and Elliot and Olivia go to find the sister. First stop, the girlfriend's house, where they learn sis is NOT spending the weekend there at all. The friend is only the cover story the teen uses. She is spending most nights with her 19 year old boyfriend. When E & O get to his house, they learn that he and the 16 year old sister are often alone, and they seem rather high. After interviewing her, and her friends at school, they learn they had been at a "pharm party." Teens bring any and all prescription drugs they can find around their houses, put them in a bowl, and take whatever combo of what they find that they please.
Despite saying that she was with her friends all night, Dad thinks he remembers seeing his daughter run down the hall before he got clunked on the head. Yet, the boy saw a "monster" hurt his daddy.. not his sister. They show the boy a set of pictures, and the boyfriend ends up being the "monster" he identifies.
Elliot and Olivia go to arrest the boyfriend. He flees, and that's when the incident occurs. It happens about 40 minutes into the show also, so I'm sitting there the whole time going, "So, when is Elliot supposed to have killed someone?" Elliot chases and catches the guy and puts him down on the ground. He does not use excessive force in any way. He knocks him to the ground and knocks him around a bit, but nothing severe. The guy goes limp and when Elliot flips him onto his back, he is not breathing. Elliot tries to revive him and gives him CPR, but Olivia says, "He's dead."
IAB immediately puts Elliot on suspension and says it's up to the medical examiner. All she finds is a ruptured spleen, which she says could only have happened from blunt force trauma. Having found only this to be wrong with the guy, she has to call the cause of death the ruptured spleen and rule his death a homicide. Casey tells Olivia that she doesn't think IAB will ruin Elliot's career over killing a guy who they know bludgeoned a couple (injuring dad and killing mom) As she says this, video of Elliot's pursuit and subduing of the guy shows up on a "Access Hollywood" type show. NOW his career is in trouble.
Elliot is about to give up on his job. He's at home, alone, pouring himself a drink and watching the video air on news show after news show. Dr. Warner shows up at his door to express her sympathies. She tells Elliot she doesn't believe he killed that boy intentionally, she just couldn't prove otherwise. Elliot says, "I didn't. I tried to save him?" "What do you mean?", Dr. Warner says. "I gave him CPR.", Elliot replies. Dr. Warner realizes that changes everything. "No one told me that.", she says, "And it wasn't in the EMT's report. The CPR could have caused the ruptured spleen! Do you have the case files? " He does.
As they review the files on the case and on the kid, they find that he had a heart condition for which he had been taking a drug he brought to the Pharm party. That, combined with the other drugs he took at the party, and the stress of running from Elliot, caused a sudden heart attack. Elliot did not cause his death. Dr. Warner testifies to this at the hearing and Elliot is cleared.
As the episode closes, Elliot shows up at his former house. His ex-wife answers the doors. Both have teary-eyes (as did I.) as he tells her that he loves two things in his life, his job and his family, and he almost lost them both. "I want to move back home." He says. I think she's going to say ... OK...
Right after this episode ended at 10P CST, www.nbc.com hosted a LIVE BLOG with Chris Meloni. He was very gracious and answered questions from fans for almost an hour. I'm sure the questions were chosen by an NBC webmaster to weed out the many "I LOVE YOU, CHRIS... YOU'RE THE HOTTEST MAN ON EARTH!!!! comments. (I didn't write any of those.. I swear!) :)
In SVU show news, he said that talk, (more like razzing, actually) centers around an episode coming in May in which we will see his butt. "Look for a full moon in May." were his actual words. Of course, he was asked about Elliot and Olivia ever getting together. His response... "Probably never." Yes,he said, there is sexual tension between them. But that is based primarily on the characters' passion for their jobs and the fact that they are two people dealing with these horrific situations and in close quarters with each other on a daily basis. Both characters have a moral compass which would not let that happen, he feels.
I have to say, I agree. I like the occassional sexual tension, don't get me wrong. But it would be weird for Elliot and Olivia to actually "get together." Plus, its clear what his family means to him. I cried last night. I cried when he dropped off the papers at the house a few weeks ago. His family is his calm center, his refuge from the world gone mad that he lives in at work each day. He needs that. And the kids and wife need him.
On a personal side, I learned that Chris is a history buff. Someone asked Chris what era he wished he could live in. He chose either Ancient Rome (hmmmm. Chris in Gladiator gear??) or NYC right after the Civil War.
He said he would love to do more films, more comedy (he has been in "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" and a recent episode of "Scrubs".), and live theatre. He will be in "Harold and Kumar 2", which starts filming soon, but will NOT be playing "Freak Show", the character he played in #1.
His first comment of the night was the sweetest. Someone asked what his plans were for Valentine's Day. He said that this Valentine's Day would probably be his best ever. His daughter had asked for only one thing: that Dad be home for Valentine's Day. He had to get special permission from SVU production to do it.. but he will be home tonight.
Happy Valentine's Day to Chris, his family.... and to all.
P.S. You can read a transcript of the full Chris Meloni Live Blog on www.nbc.com. Go to the Law and Order SVU Page and you'll see it there.
Posted by Marenkay at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
All Hands On Deck - Ferry Disaster Part 1
The day began in a very routine way for our friends at SGH. Everyone was focused on their own concerns. Meredith, in a bit of foreshadowing, was soaking, or perhaps I should say SINKING, in the tub, thinking of her mother's upcoming surgery and the events of the recent lucid time with her. McDreamy yanked her out of the tub, seeing as she did not seem to be rising up from below the water on her own. (Does everyone remember last year's Super Bowl episode that started with Meredith feeling, "I'm going to die today." and refusing to get out of bed??)
Cristina doesn't want Burke to tell anyone about their engagement until she gets a chance to tell Meredith. He agrees, but later when McDreamy starts to confide in Burke about his relationship with Meredith, Burke spills his good news. To make it worse, McSteamy, who always seems to appear and get up in people's business, overhears this and begins to spread it all over the place. Cristina never gets a chance, in this episode at least, to tell Meredith the news.
Chief appears at work looking very different. McD, Burke and Addison all notice immediately that his hair is no longer grey! Addison hushes McD as he tries to quiz him about it, but Addison has no hold on Burke! Burke asks him, "Why?" The chief feels it necessary now that he is a "single man again." Addison understands, whispering to the chief, after the men leave, that she dyed her hand blond right after McD left her.
Bailey, Callie and the interns are running triage drills in the clinic assisted by obnoxiously perky resident Sydney (Izzy's Psych resident grief counselor) It's clear that Bailey and Callie don't like her either as they try to fend off her constant glee. Chief interrupts their drills with a real emergency, there has been a ferry accident and he needs "All Hands on Deck." Bailey, Alex, Izzy, George and Meredith head for the scene.
When they get there, they find bodies everywhere. A ferry has collided with a container ship and there has been a fire. Miranda tells all they are on their own and the group scatters. Alex finds a pregnant woman under a pylon off the pier. He gets her out and gets her to the hospital where they work to save her and the baby. Her face is swollen. (burns? that "MASK" disease? I'm not sure.) Interesting how Alex, who is torn between plastics and OB, gets a pregnant woman with a damaged face as his case.
Izzy is trying to save a man who is pinned under a car inside the ferry. He has serious injuries including likely broken bones and bleeding. She can't treat him fully unless the car is removed, and the Search and Rescue teams are too busy with other victims. She works throughout the episode, doing what she can while his buddies scream at her to do more. He did not look good at episode's end, and Search and Rescue was still no where in sight.
George helps a woman with a serious stomach injury. They get her to the hospital for surgery, but she is concerned about her son. He's a seven year old boy who has not been found. George agrees to follow up and find her boy, but at episode's end, as she is wheeled into Surgery, he shakes his head when asked again about the boy. To me, his gesture seemed to say, "He's been found, but the news is not good."
Meredith was treating a man on the edge of the dock with a bad leg injury. She stitches him up with the help of a silent little girl who has attached herself to Meredith. Clearly in shock, she refuses to speak but follows Meredith wherever she goes. The girl gets Mer the equipment she needs to help the man and holds a bandage steady for her. As Mer finishes, and begins to put the gear away, the man convulses and knocks Mer into the water. They are far from the rest of the victims and Docs, and no one but the girl sees this happen. The little girl turns and walks away, saying nothing, and the episode closes as it opened, with Meredith under the water, making no effort to emerge.
This week and next will be continuations of this story. Will McD (or anyone) pull Mer out of the water in time? Has George found the woman's son? Will Alex's case steer his decision on a specialty? (and bring him even closer to Addison?) Will Izzy save her patient? and how does being back in the fray again affect her?
A teaser I've read in several places states that we will see Denny Duquette next week and he will not appear in a dream, a flashback, or as an "evil twin." My guess, Mer will have a "near death" experience where she sees dead people such as Denny, Kyle Chandler (bomb episode guy) George's Dad, and others.
The abc website has a podcast featuring Shonda Rhimes talking about this episode and the coming one, which is entitled, "Drowning on Dry Land". She cautions that the epi coming up is one NOT TO MISS. So... Don't!
Posted by Marenkay at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2007
Grissom Returned, Keppler... Departed.
Grissom came back in last week's episode.. and BOY, was everyone happy to see him. Sara, especially.. altho she was NOT happy that she had just come back from searching a dumpster for evidence and smelled like garbage! "I'll see you later!", Grissom said, clearly happy to see her too. "Yes, you will." Sara replied in a sort of sultry way. I think she has some plans for our Walden Pond boy.
Hodges ran into Grissom first and revealed that he had taken Grissom's Walden Pond seminar online. "Oh, so YOU'RE "Spanky". " Grissom realized. Hodges also let Grissom know there had been some conflict in the squad while he was gone. Grissom asked Warrick about it when first he saw him, and Warrick let him know about the "Reverse Forensics." case. Grissom did NOT look pleased.
Nick and Katherine seemed to have started to like Keppler. Nick had his suspicions that Keppler might be a dirty cop, but was starting to kid with him and become friendly with him, cautiously at least. Katherine seemed to really like him, perhaps a bit too much. She wanted to make a case for him staying in their squad rather than transferring to days as originally planned.
No one has to worry about Keppler joining our CSI crew however. Keppler's storyline came to an end this week in a blaze of gunfire and amid a web of lies and dirty cops covering for each other. Frank, the man who had been leaving Keppler all those messages, is a former Trenton cop (where Keppler came from ) and is the father of Keppler's former fiance. Frank was in Las Vegas to see Keppler and to spend some time with a fellow retired cop friend, Dennis. Back all those years ago, when Amy (the fiance) killed herself, Frank had told Keppler that Amy did this due to having been raped. Frank identified the rapist as a Puerto Rican man who Keppler subsequently killed. Frank and his former partner Dennis, covered up Keppler's assassination of this man. In Keppler's flashbacks of the incident, we see the man begging for his life and saying "You've got the wrong guy, I didn't rape anyone." as Keppler fired.
Now Dennis and a Las Vegas hooker that was entertaining him for the evening have turned up dead. The hooker was found without one hand as well. Turns out that Frank killed Dennis because he was about to tell the truth about the man's murder so long ago. The hooker was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had to lose her hand so that the CSI's wouldn't find Frank's DNA under her nails.
The truth Dennis was going to reveal?? The man Keppler shot WAS innocent. Amy killed herself because she was being raped, yes, but not by a stranger. Her father, Frank, was molesting her. When Keppler learned this, he went to confront Frank. Frank shot Keppler during the confrontation, and Katherine shot Frank in an attempt to protect Keppler. Lots of bodies on this CSI episode, and NO MO KEPPLER.
I have to hand it to CSI. They wrapped up the Keppler story nicely. This episode held your interest throughout. It was exciting and action packed. It answered all the questions posed about Keppler, but waited until the very end to do it. And, it left us with no doubt about whether Keppler would return. It actually made him a sympathetic character as well. I watched this directly after Grey's.. and I have to say, on this week, CSI was the better show.
One last note: Grissom still hasn't opened his mail that piled up during his sabbatical.. including the box from the model maker. I'm thinking he'll do that THIS week.
Posted by Marenkay at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2007
Still LOST... and interesting again.
Lost returned this Weds after a nearly three month absence. Everyone I know, from devoted Lost fans, to Lost fans who have "lost their way" in these past Lost-absent months, to followers of TV in general, all had one thought... "This episode better come out of the blocks good!"
It did NOT disappoint. We got some action, some romance, an intriguing back-story, more fuel for the "numbers" discussion, a new character, and a couple of "answers" (or at least, quasi-answers) that lead to MORE questions. A quick recap.
THE ACTION
Jack continued to threaten to let Ben die on the OR table if Kate and Sawyer were not allowed to escape. Juliet challenged him, saying she didn't believe he'd just stand by and let a patient die. Jack revealed that she had ASKED him to let Ben die on the table and make it look like an accident.. something Tom (aka Zeke) most definitely believed and was clearly disgusted by when he overheard this. BEN overheard it too... being somewhat awake despite still being operated on. ("I'm a spinal surgeon, not an anesthesiologist!" was Jack's explanation for this!) BEN asked to speak to Juliet alone and after that confab, Juliet told Jack to complete the surgery saving Ben, and she would make sure that Kate and Sawyer were set free.
Kate and Sawyer were running through the woods toward freedom being pursued by Danny, who hates Sawyer and some other Others who hadn't been ordered to let them go yet. Kate and Sawyer whoop butt on them! (I particularly enjoyed Sawyer slamming Danny's head into that bleepin' button he had to push to earn "treats" while in the cage.)
They also get the help of Alex, a young woman that we believe to be the Crazy French Woman's daughter and later learn is also Ben's daughter. (I'm guessing she's his by adoption or stealing.. not biological! Then again, in Other-Land , one never knows... especially since.....)
INTRIGUE/BACK-STORY
This week the back-story features Juliet, who we learn lived in Miami where she was a doctor and fertility expert. She had a sister who she cared for who looked to be dying of cancer. She also had been doing research in which she had successfully impregnated a male rat and, we learn, had just been successful in getting her sick sister pregnant as well. Word of Juliet's particular skills in creating impossible pregnancies (LIKE SUN'S perhaps..) reach the management of "Mittleos Bioscience" who want to offer her a highly lucrative job, but one that is "far away from Miami." She is intrigued by the offer, but says her ex-husband would never let her take it. He seems a particularly controlling jerk, which made his being blind-sided by a bus (Great scene.. KABOOM.. rather Six Feet Under like!) rather enjoyable. As she dealt with her dead ex's remains at the morgue, the Mittleos manager shows up again.. AT THE MORGUE... AND WITH ETHAN ROM... to try to convince her again to take their job.
P.S. It has been pointed out to me that Mittleos is an anagram for LOST TIME. And that "talk" Ben had with Juliet??? Supposedly he told her that if she allowed Ben to live (by convincing Jack to complete the surgery successfully.) he would allow her, FINALLY, to go home. She had been on this island, she tells Jack, "3 years, 2 months, and 28 days." (I'll bet there's a tie to the numbers there too. I'm just not seeing it... YET.)
ROMANCE
Alex agrees to help Kate and Sawyer escape by providing them a boat to get back to "their island." In exchange, they have to help her get her boyfriend, Karl, out of where he is being held and to safety. Karl is being held in CELL #23 (numbers!), where he is strapped to a chair, eyes pried open (very Clockwork-Orange) and being forced to view hippy dippy images of flowers and psychedelic patterns with life-affirming messages on them. Sawyer carries his entranced shell out of there and they get him to the Catamaran that Alex is providing. Juliet is waiting for them there. She tells them that Kate, Sawyer and Karl can go.. but that Alex must remain... "To be here when your father wakes up." Karl and Alex share a tearful parting... and the boat takes off for the "good" island.
ANSWERS?
No clear-cut ones.. but is anything ever clear-cut on Lost? We do know now that Alex is considered Ben's daughter. (But is she really?) We've learned that Juliet is a fertility expert that they specifically recruited to come there. (How does this tie to Sun's pregnancy? Claire's baby? ) Juliet is clearly not happy she is there and is anxious to leave. (How many OTHERS are there against their will, just as our good guy Losties are, and why?) And Ben is as creepy as ever. (Thanks to consistently great performances by Michael Emerson.)
AND MORE QUESTIONS
What would LOST be without them? What the "H" was that room that Karl was in. Did we all freeze-frame those messages? What did they mean?
Is this yet another Dharma mind game/experiment? Is the Kate/Sawyer?Jack show over? and will we see the other characters now? (The executive producers promise, "yes." - they even promise a coming backstory about Paolo and Nikki, the two random new characters that showed up last season, that will make us CARE about them and see them in a new light. I'm reserving my judgement on that.
LOST IS BACK.. and We're back to loving it again. Jump on the roller coaster - it's gonna be a fun ride.
Posted by Marenkay at 02:51 PM | Comments (1)
February 08, 2007
House: For the Love of... A Parking Space?
House's obsession this week is his handicapped parking space. I should say, his ever moving parking place. When he first got the new bike in Season 2, he showed it off to everyone outside in a handicapped spot. At the beginning of this season, when the teenager was stalking him, he suddenly had a spot in a hospital parking garage. NOW, all of a sudden, he has a car, and a clunker at that. What happened to the sleek sports car he got from the mobsters in Season 1?
House arrives for work on this particular morning and finds that his spot, closest to the door, has been assigned to another doc. His spot, still handicapped, is a few spots further away from the entrance. This, of course, sparks his ire and his competitive nature. He learns from Cameron that Dr. J. Whitmer, the owner of his former spot, is Dr. JULIE Whitmer, the new head of the research dept. who is confined to a wheelchair. House argues that "cruising" around in a comfy wheelchair all day is FAR easier than the hobbling around with a cane as HE is forced to do, so HE deserves the closer spot. Cuddy makes him a deal. If he can make it through one week confined to a wheelchair at work, and that means FOR EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME, he can have his space back.
The case involves a sixteen year old boy who comes in with serious breathing problems and internal bleeding. As things continue to worsen for him, and as all guesses prove wrong, the team learns that the teen's family is a band of gypsies who believe in homeopathic remedies and do not have much faith in tradition medicine. The teen himself is a very intelligent boy who not only knows plenty about traditional medicine but also demonstrates a genuine interest in it. Foreman becomes close to the boy and takes a special interest in his case, even telling him he would be willing to recommend him for an internship spot in the hospital once he got better.
After almost an hour of the boy getting worse, the family refusing conventional treatment, and an extremely unbelievable scene where House bumps down the stairs on the wheelchair, breaks into the OR (without putting on scrubs OR SCRUBBING AT ALL) and runs his hands all up and down the poor kids intestines, that we learn that he had swallowed a toothpick! It didn't show up on all the scans they did because the thin wooden pick absorbs water in the body and takes on the same density as the tissue it's in (or something like that.) and was running around in his body making little punctures all along the way. They remove the toothpick and the kid gets better. And this episode was entitled, "Needle in a Haystack". Aint't that cute! The boy turns down Foreman's offer of the internship, because he would rather stay with his wandering family than be successful in a career but alone, as he says Foreman and the rest of the team are. Foreman realizes the kid has a point, and we see Foreman eating dinner in his nicely appointed apartment alone, while flipping through a journal, in his final scene of the night.
House loses his bet with Cuddy because he stood up to pick through the kids bowels.... but he gets the spot back ANYWAY because he basically guilts Cuddy into it. Can't wait to see Cuddy, or preferably GREG, explain that to Dr. Whitmer. Greg did have one scene with her where he tried to convince her to give up the space, and I liked the banter between them. She gave as good as she got (and we know Greg LIKES that.) and she is pretty, obviously smart, and on roughly the same career level and of the same age as he. (unlike Cameron... as much as I like the thought of the two of them.) It remains to be seen if Dr. Whitmer will be a recurring character, but I wouldn't mind if they decided to go that way.
Next week, House and the ducklings take on the case of a young girl who feels no pain. Then, House is pre-empted for the remainder of Feb sweeps - which really ticks me off.
Posted by Marenkay at 02:50 PM | Comments (0)
Olivia Brockovich
This week's SVU showcased Olivia and involved an interesting case. But given that the top of the episode featured a shirtless Elliot and toward the end, a sweet scene with Olivia and Elliot in the squad, late at night, with a tight close-up on those deep blue eyes, I am surprised that I was able to process what the rest of the show was about!
A teenage boy arrives at the SVU with an envelope he is delivering. As he steps out of the elevator into the hall, he finds himself in the middle of a scuffle between the SVU officers and a PCP crazed perp. The PCP guy throws Elliot through some plate glass. (Why are there always walls of plate glass in police units, I wonder?) Elliot is cut badly enough to warrant a trip to the hospital and the shirtless scene. (I watch a lot of the older SVU's on USA and it seems to me that they are featuring a shirtless Elliot much more often these days than in the past. hmmmmmm. )
The envelope the teen delivered contains pix of a younger boy in his underwear and a note that says, "Put the bastard who did this away." Fin and Benson went to the building where the pictures were taken (not real clear on how they figured that out.. stuff in the background of the pictures, I believe.) and spoke to the super. While in the super's apt, Fin noticed a digital camera and began to suspect that the super himself had been taking the pix. They also learned that the building had been broken into a number of times recently. The 911 calls reporting the burglaries had all been placed by the same person and Fin and Benson recognized the voice on the tapes. It was a tenant in the building they had spoken to earlier in the investigation. When they brought him in, they learned that he had DONE the burglaries AND that he had seen the boy in the underwear in the super's apt. He agreed to testify against the super in return for a deal on the burglaries. The digital camera yielded evidence on the memory chip that enabled them to arrest Seth on child pornography charges, but the judge advised the detectives to get the child to testify if they wanted this to go to trial.
It turned out the child and his mother lived in the building and the super watched the kid from time to time while mom was working. While Benson tried to talk to the child, Diego, and his mom, everyone became very ill. Diego passed out, then his mom. Benson was getting woozy herself, but had the presence of mind to break a window to vent the place and to get everyone out before passing out herself.
People in three other apartments had to be evacuated and taken to the hospital by EMT's. HazMat teams were called in and found a large drum of a toxic chemical in the basement of the building.
This was no longer an SVU case, but rather a case much like Erin Brockovich. It was Olivia vs. the big chemical company. As the investigation continued, it was revealed that a chemical company was paying the super to spray select apts. with this chemical and then to video tape the residents there (they found video of him reading to Diego and asking him questions about what he had learned.) to measure their reactions to the drug. The super had been telling the tenants that he was spraying a pesticide to rid their apts. of roaches! They had been using these poor tenants as guinea pigs. Now, it was learned that Diego had cancer from his continual exposure to the chemical, and several other tenants were ill.
Benson went to the company to question the CEO and was intercepted by the company's lawyer. He threatened her, saying that she was overstepping her bounds and this was not a SVU case. She had no proof that Diego's cancer was caused by their chemical. Novak cautioned her also that she should probably back off. We all know that Olivia doesn't quit once she's committed to a case! Late at night, alone in the squad, Olivia is working on the case when Elliot comes to see her. He tells her that if you can't get anything on them "by the book" , that sometimes when perps are playing in the dirt, you have to get right down into the dirt with them to catch them.
Olivia manages, somehow, NOT to be entranced by Elliot's eyes as I was, and to continue to work the case. She enlists the help of the computer crimes unit who help her to hack into the chemical companies computers. She was able to find incriminating e-mails showing that the company knew the chemical they were testing in the building was harmful. They arrested the CEO, and were able to make a deal with him to drop the charges if he agreed to pay lifelong medical expenses for Diego and for all the other residents of that building.
Next week looks to be centered on Elliot... and not in a good way. The promos showed Elliot being accused of murdering a suspect. "Killer Cop" headlines grace the papers. Olivia angrily says, "Elliot Stabler would NEVER murder anyone. If YOU can't prove it, I can!" Looks to be a good episode. See ya next week!
Posted by Marenkay at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
February 07, 2007
CSI: Lonely Hearts and Body Parts
Last week's CSI left us with more questions than answers.. about Keppler and about Grissom and Sara, while exploring two very bizarre but interesting cases.
The first case, being worked primarily by Nick and the boss, involved an operation selling black market body parts. The "crispy critter" body initially found was not only burned, but looked as if he had been pieced together with a staple gun. During the autopsy, they even found PVC pipes and umbrella parts where his bones used to be! Turns out that a shifty mortician (played by NYPD Blue ex-Gordon Clapp) was changing the Cause of Death for many of his patients and selling the bodies to a company specialized in selling tissue and bone replacements. Leukemia, Hepatitis victims and the like, do not make good organ donors, and many of the recipients of these black market parts had become sick or died. The sleazy company CEO, of course, tried to pin it all on the mortician and absolve himself from blame, but Nick was determined to link his company to the crimes and make him pay.
The other case, worked by most everyone else, involved a "host" club, where women could go for "male companionship." By paying for bottles of wine (priced $50 =$5,000 based on the quality of the "host"), women could have "a relationship" with the man of their choice, in whatever way they defined "a relationship." The vic was a married, wealthy woman. Her bereaved husband was quite surprised that she would frequent such a place. When Katherine realized that a photo album, open to a page of the victim, roughly 20 years younger, holding a baby, they asked the husband whose child was in the picture with his wife. It was a baby she gave up long before they were married. This child, it turns out, was the person she had been buying bottles of wine in order to see. Sonny boy had some issues about mom having given him up... which were probably NOT made better with the realization that he had been romancing his own birth mother for months. He smacked her over the head with her very expensive champagne bottle.
Keppler is seen studying a notice for a gathering "Celebrating the life of Amy", who had passed away in 1985. A review of Keppler's bio on the CSI page of www.cbs.com (which of course, they are trying to drive us to do with the Keppler storyline, hence the whole WhoIsKeppler? promo on-air and online.) reveals that Amy is Keppler's first love, who killed herself when she was in high school. Frank, the man who had been leaving all the voice mails over the past few weeks, is Amy's father who Keppler formed a close relationship with in the years after Amy's loss. It seems that Keppler is more tortured about this whole thing than he should be. Perhaps he is more involved than we think. Maybe it wasn't suicide? Surely there is more to this story than we currently know. Good thing Grissom is on his way back to help us make sense of it all.
The only glimpse of Grissom we see is a shot of him writing a letter to Sara from his desk at Walden Pond. He has a scruffy beard, and is seen writing things like, "Our parting was awkward" and "I'll miss you." Does this mean they are over? Sara is seen looking at the cocoon he sent her, which she has placed in an aquarium in the office for safekeeping. We also catch sight of Grissom's desk, with the package from "the model killer" still awaiting his return.
Grissom returns tonight, and I can't wait to see how things pan out. I'm also glad to see that CSI found a way to weather Grissom's temporary absence without much of a hitch, because its rumored that William Petersen wants some time off NEXT season... to do some theatre here in Chicago. I get my wish!
Posted by Marenkay at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2007
Grey's: Big Questions, Big Answers
Callie O'Malley? Yes, indeed! The episode opens with George and Callie walking in to the hospital hand-in-hand, and announcing that they had just gotten married in Vegas. I still don't hold out much hope for this marriage, having happened so hastily and while George is still so wounded by the loss of his dad. Plus, what of all the issues these two had when they lived together before? They were not exactly a happily cohabitating couple! Time will tell, I guess.
The other newly betrothed couple, Cristina and Burke, got over their engagement hurdles and headed happily to the next stage. She said "yes", but was proceeding from that moment in her own (somewhat Carrie- Bradshaw-like) style and fashion. "I don't do rings", she explains when asked why she isn't wearing the one Burke presented (and a big honkin' beauty it is, too... better do SOMETHING with it.) Cristina got some help over her barriers by her career hero, Meredith's mother, who was briefly lucid and back to her former self. Cristina asked her if it was really possible to have it all, family and success as a surgeon. Ellis told her that it probably was, although in her own case, she probably didn't try hard enough. Cristina, energized with optimism and up for the challenge, happily jumped up and down with Burke. They're moving forward toward what surely will be some VERY entertaining wedding plans. (Provided we don't lose or have to recast the groom.)
Mom's momentary lucidity was Meredith's focus in this episode. Ellis picked up right where she left off with Meredith five years prior, before the Alzheimer's had set in. She wasted no time telling Meredith she was a disappointment, had no ambition, and was content to be "ordinary." This "gift" of having mom back felt more like a curse, particularly when it was left to Meredith to decide whether to allow or refuse surgery on mom for a heart condition that they had discovered. Having been told of her condition by Meredith, she wanted to refuse the surgery, but Meredith would have nothing of that. A lot had happened to her to make her lose her focus and to "become ordinary", primary of which was mom's illness. "Killing my mother will not be another thing that happens to me.", Meredith declares. The Chief spent Ellis' last lucid moments with her, going along with her vision of things as they were (or used to be) and letting her think that they would have been together and happy today.
On the medical front, a patient's toxic blood had one doc after another passing out in the OR, with the exception of McSteamy,who showed his true colors (and leadership skills?) by refusing to enter the OR at all. Addison and Alex recouped from their exposure to the toxic blood in neighboring beds. The sight of a reclining Alex in a tank top was too much for Addison, and she had to find a release... McSteamy.
Izzy and Miranda's "Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic", opened and running in a record-breaking 8 days?!?! had no patients but one young girl whose mother had passed on and who needed to be guided through those first days of "becoming a woman". I'm certain that the clinic will have many patients in the days and years to come. Making a difference in the life of this first patient, however small, helped Bailey feel she focused her efforts, and Izzy her dollars, in the right direction.
All in all, kind of a lackluster episode without a lot of plot movement or character development. It was nice to see Meredith and Ellis relate to each other, revealing both the atmosphere in which Mer grew up (explains a lot about her, doesn't it?) and the way things are today. It made me a bit more optimistic about Cristina and Burke and though we saw little, no more optimistic about Callie and George.
A big two parter is on the horizon for Feb Sweeps. They promise lots of action and plenty of interesting developments. Stay Tuned!
Posted by Marenkay at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
House: WAY out of his comfort zone
After a two week absence (for a 2-hour American Idol installment and the State of the Union Address), House returned on 1/30 with a compelling episode and earned outstanding ratings in the process.
When last we saw Dr. Greg House, he was spending one night in jail due to contempt charges earned when we walked out of the courtroom mid-proceedings to treat a patient. Cuddy had spared him serious jail time on Tritter's charges by perjuring herself on the stand and claiming to have swapped the dead guys Oxycontin (which House stole to satisfy his pain-killer addiction) with placebos. We fans knew this was untrue, but the judge bought it and the case had to be dismissed.
When we further learned that House's entire stint in rehab was just an act designed to influence his court outcome AND that an orderly at the rehab had been feeding him Vicodin during his entire time there, I lost more than a little of my respect and my affection for the character. While not at all ready to stop tuning in "House" altogether, my first reaction to this episode was, "They better do something in the next episode to make me care about this guy again."
With "One Day, One Room", the PTB's at House, MD did exactly that. As part of, and just the beginning of, House's payback to Cuddy for saving his hide from jail time, House is assigned to a heavy load of clinic duty. We all know how much he LOVES that! Clearly, he resented and hated clinic work as much as ever, but it did seem that he tempered his approach to the patients somewhat given his experiences of earlier this season. He didn't leave any thermometers in anyone at least.
Three of his clinic patients came in exhibiting of symptoms typical of STD's (a common clinic complaint) and required testing.A rather attractive young woman was the one who tested positive. She broke down into tears when House told her this. While he initially thought she was just embarrassed about having an STD and displayed his typical House lack of compassion and empathy toward her, he quickly surmised that her reaction was not one of embarrassment at all. She had been raped. In that moment, House's entire demeanor toward her changed. (This was, once again, brilliantly conveyed with just a look and a posture change by Hugh Laurie.) And in that moment, I started to care about Dr. Greg House once again.
The patient's name was Eve. Upon realizing her situation, House went to Cuddy and asked to be taken off her case. He argued that she had no medical condition he could treat and that she would be best treated by a psychiatrist. Eve, however, refused to be reassigned. She insisted upon talking to and being treated by House, and House only.
House could not understand why Eve insisted upon being treated by him. "Why do you want me?", he asked her. He made it clear that he did not want to treat her, that he felt he had nothing to offer her. Yet, she was insistent. This was a puzzle unlike any House has had to solve before. To get to the solution, he had to open himself up, and reveal things about himself and his past that he has never done previously. Eve wanted him to be his doctor because she sensed in him a similar pain, damage that he had survived. She was right.
Critics and columnists often wonder why so many viewers love this crabby, obnoxious, renegade of a character. This episode clearly demonstrates why. He truly cares about his patients and will do whatever is required.. conventional, legal, ethical, or not, to make them right. While we rarely get to see it, under that abrasive, rude, unlikable, and very hard shell is a vulnerable, damaged, caring, and highly intelligent guy. (and the incredible blue eyes don't hurt either.) I'm in love with Greg House all over again.
This episode was the highest rated scripted drama of the week last week, on ANY Network, surpassing even Grey's Anatomy. Of course, the American Idol lead-in didn't hurt. But that lead-in audience would tune out if they didn't see something that interested them, and made them want to stick around. Greg House is one of the most compelling characters on television today. Don't miss an episode.
Posted by Marenkay at 03:22 PM | Comments (1)
February 01, 2007
CSI's Keppler - Don't like him? You're not supposed to.
It's been two episodes now since we first met "KEPPLER", the new CSI sent to fill in for Grissom while he is off teaching an entomology course at Walden Pond. We've known for awhile that he was coming. Fans of CSI (and readers of this blog) were aware that Keppler was going to be played by Liev Schreiber and that he was at the center of a big "Who is Keppler?" teaser campaign that CBS has been putting on.
So, who IS Keppler? and do we like him? As you would expect, his character arrived shrouded in mystery and immediately starting behaving in ways that made him not very popular around the squad, and therefore.. not very popular with us fans of our "friends" IN the squad.
He first arrives on the scene of a "Jane Doe" murder case that Catherine is working. He immediately starts taking over the case, and acting a lot more like a profiler (and an SVU one at that!) than a CSI. Catherine points that out to him, to which he replies, "What the difference?" "Evidence!" , Catherine retorts. The backstory is that he will be assigned to days eventually, but that their team has been asked to "break him in" since they're down one person with Grissom gone.
He connects immediately with Brass, since they're both from Jersey and both hate Las Vegas pizza. (I can imagine!) He keeps getting messages (he's seen with a whole stack of "While you were out" pink slips) from some guy named Frank. What's up with that?, we're of course meant to wonder...
Nick seems to dislike him from the start.... and Hodges wants to get to the bottom of what this dude is all about and starts digging around. In last week's epi, he divides the team into factions by proposing a "reverse forensics." They know from almost the start who the killer is.. but he is in hiding. To draw him out, Keppler proposes setting up a fake second murder scene, identical to the first, and "arresting" someone for the two linked crimes. This requires a lot of faking of evidence, a fictitious news report and Brass's boss being in on it all and selling the DA on it. Keppler proposes this at a breakfast with Brass, Catherine and the boss.. so only they are in on it. The four of them have to dupe Warrick, Nick, Sara, Greg and Hodges for this to work.
Being CSI's... the four of THEM figure something is up very quickly and soon we have CSI's investigating CSI's.. and secret meetings in the parking lot. Grissom sure won't be happy when he comes back to find his team at odds with itself.
Speaking of Grissom, Sara gets a message from him. A box containing a stick with a cocoon arrives from Walden Pond for her. No message, no card, no well wishes inside, however. This is one of the oddest relationships I've ever seen on TV. Oh, and one other thing.. When Sara goes into Grissom's desk to get a key to a storage locker, we once again see the box from the "model killer" sitting on the desk.. awaiting Gil's return. AS ARE WE ALL.
Two more weeks sans Grissom to go. Please...hurry.
Posted by Marenkay at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)
Battling Chiefs and Blushing Brides
Grey's returned last week with news spreading quickly that the Chief planned to retire and that Burke had been offered the job. (Christina spilled that one.) This got McDreamy fired up and put McSteamy in the ring when Meredith spilled to him that a Chief race was underway. McSteamy was half way out the doors of SGH when Meredith blabbed and is undoubtedly vying for the position more to piss off Derek than because he really wants it himself. Addison, being the career minded gal that she is, throws her hat into the ring too. Besides, what girl wouldn't jump into a race that has her shoulder-to-shoulder with these guys throughout your workday? Bailey is not in the mix, at the moment anyway, because she is concentrating on her new mission. She wants to open a free clinic at SGH. Everyone is baffled as to why a surgeon would want to take on such a project, and the chief tells her that she has to go to all the potential chiefs and win their support. She does.. but she still needs funding. Good thing Izzy has a big heart for the downtrodden and all those Denny millions laying around with nothing to do. The Denny Duquette Memorial Free Clinic at Seattle Grace is born!
In couples news at SGH, George is dealing with his father's death by numbing himself with non-stop sex with Callie. Callie can barely work.. or walk! and is fleeing from him every chance she gets. All this running and hiding from sex with George makes me think she may NOT say "Yes" to his proposal of marriage.. one of two that happens on this night.
Addison has been running from Alex, too.. ever since their kiss at the bar, but I don't think it's clear, especially to her, whether she is running from him because she doesn't want it to happen again.. or because she DOES want it to so badly. Alex finally catches up with her and says he doesn't feel it should happen again either. Whether he really means it or is just playing hard to get so that she chases HIM, remains to be seen.
Meredith and Derek had their first fight about her spilling about the chief race to McSteamy.. and she's surprised when Derek shows up at her house to continue the relationship and apologize. Apparently, she has taken each first fight in every previous relationship as goodbye. Yes, Meredith... couples in love fight, and make up, and go on to fight again. Do you really want to say goodbye over one fight! to that guy and those eyes and all that great resulting make up sex? Seriously??
Burke and Christina finally break their silence and talk about his tremors and her role in the whole mess. She tells him that she still feels she was right. Right to do what she did throughout his problems and right to tell the chief when and how she did. But, she also says that she's in this (relationship) for the long haul, so if that means that she speaks first, or loses this battle to stay in the fight.. then OK. He then breaks his silence with one response. "Marry Me."
Spoilers I've read for Feb sweeps tell me there will be ONE wedding moving forward among our SGH pals. I've been cheering from Christina and Burke since the start... and surely, the two of THEM moving toward and eventually down the aisle would make for the funniest and probably some of the most touching moments Grey's can deliver. Plus, Isaiah and Sandra O do such a great job of delivering these characters to us and in working with each other. I hope he overcomes his difficulties, stays with the show, and is allowed to continue the great work that he has been doing.
I like Callie and I like George. But not together. Sorry.
Posted by Marenkay at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)