["The View": Week of 11/03/14]

 

We saw only that "Queen of Nice," and I don't think much of it was real.  The show and Rosie were entertaining and I can't remember where she lost her way.  Those who are expecting to see the old Rosie are in for disappointment.  She is overrated.

 

It always strikes me when someone mentions the "Queen of Nice" thing about Rosie. There's this perception that she somehow styled herself by that title. She didn't. She had a daytime talk show that, at the time, broke the mold a bit and didn't have divorcing couples on the show screaming at each other, or moms who didn't know which of three guys was the baby's father, or even serious discussions about 'serious' topics. She had celebrities on the show and was genuinely thrilled to meet and talk with them. She loved meeting people like the little old lady who made cakes and cute little kids who could name all the presidents. I don't think any of that was fake. And it was the press who dubbed her the 'Queen of Nice' because her talk show was so different from the other shows airing at the time.

 

Did she yell at staffers in the back? I don't know and don't much care. I don't think one negates the other. I don't disbelieve her enjoyment in meeting and talking with the people she had on the show just because she may be a tough woman to work with. What I enjoyed was the genuineness she brought to the stage. I believed her stories. And I believed she could have a crush on Tom Cruise and want him to mow her lawn in a suit even though I knew she was a lesbian. Again I don't think one negates the other. I'm straight but when I first saw K D Lang in performance live? I had a total crush. There was just so much charismatic energy going on. 

 

Like others I'm missing something with Rosie this time around and I think it's the enthusiasm and frankness we know and love. I put her being squelched down solely to Whoopi at this point. I'm not seeing Whoopi's "um hmms" and "that's right" commentary while others are speaking as her attempting to show enthusiasm. I see them as her passive-aggressive attempts to keep the power at the table. By doing what she's doing she's not only keeping attention on herself she's shutting others down. I think Rosie has reached a point in her life where she's not going to engage. Maybe she's being smart and realizing how bad Whoopi is making herself look with her power plays. I don't know. I do know I'm sticking around to see if she can outwit, outlast and outplay Whoopi and be more of the Rosie I enjoy as a talk show host.

 

Though I don't love everything about Rosie P and Nicole, they are both interesting enough for me to want them to also outwit, outlast and outplay Whoopi. I think if the table did add Jordan Sparks (as a for instance) and got rid of Whoopi? Wow what a difference it would make. I'd love to see a show where Whoopi is off for the day and how it would go. Rosie O is in a different place in her life, she's not a thirty-something, she's a fifty-something, so I don't expect her to be who she was 20 years ago. I just want to her to be allowed to be herself. 

[S03.E06: Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy]

 

I think that Zoey was portrayed as a level headed woman who tries not to play games.  Right before she and Gunnar first hooked up, she asked who that song was written about and when he started hemming and hawing, she got up to leave because he was acting like a weirdo.  And she told him why.  When she felt a little insecure about Scarlett, she asked him if she was a rebound and they had a mature conversation.  But this season, Gunnar has been acting like a sketch monster, and she's treating him as such.  Every time she appears when she's not expected, he's turning around with the guiltiest look on his face.

This is the thing I've been thinking about. Zoey and Juliette are/have experienced similar things with their boyfriends (and in fact with the same woman, Scarlet). But where I think Zoey tries to handle it as straight-forwardly as possible, Juliette chose to act out. And weirdly I think Zoey has far more leg to stand on in terms of being wary of Gunnar's interactions with other women. As you say, he always manages to look incredibly guilty and he has been the king of mixed messages. But other then having jealous moments where she's keeping a closer eye on him, Zoey has generally just confronted him. When she thought he was spending too much time with Scarlet, she did jump to some conclusions, but she didn't do more then that.

 

Contrast that with Juliette. Scarlet had a mental breakdown and was locked in a mental ward. Avery got her help and then stayed by her bedside during the worst, first day or two. Think about that, he helped a woman he still considers to be a friend when she had a mental breakdown. And how did Juliette respond to his spending time taking care of Scarlet? She slept with Jeff. Now I like Juliette, but she is not a saint. And when she gets upset she acts out, often sexually, and almost always destructively (both to herself and to those she loves). She did so when she was having problems with her mother and she did so when she felt like Avery was comforting another woman. 

 

I think of the two women, Zoey has far more reason to question and doubt, and yet she gets criticized (both by the writing and viewers) for doing so. Juliette slept with another man, thought she might be having his child, and still she's somehow made the tragic figure. The writers have helped this mightily by making Avery such a jerk for most of this season. 

 

And that's what frustrates me about the writing. A character does something bad, terrible, stupid, etc. and instead of fully delving into that behavior through the writing, instead they go the propping route and have someone else act worse. A small example just last week was Juliette texting Avery the news about the baby. She texted him. But instead of getting the flak for that, instead she gets to act hurt and wounded when Avery naturally seeks her out to ask what the hell. He's pounding on her bus door and is angry and Glen has to go out and send him away. And Juliette gets a sympathy chat with Derek Hough. 

 

I enjoy the show but the writing sometimes makes me bonkers. It could be so much better if they weren't always going for the easy out in every case.

["The View": Week of 10/20/14]

"I swear I thought VP had been on the show years ago? I had not regularly watched the show in a few years before this season. Does anyone remember Valerie and her husband being on? Promoting a book?

I'm not taking anything away from Nicole, but VP was there to push her book. I'm sure she will go on many shows."

You're right, she was on in the past, think it might have been back when Rosie O was on the first time around. Pretty sure she and her husband were promoting the book they wrote about being outed.

And I didn't think it was out of line to ask her what she thought about Carrie on Homeland. People get asked all the time how a tv professional compares to the real thing. Besides, Plame was there talking about her own fictional version of the life, so a pop culture question makes sense.

[S03.E03: I Can't Get Over You to Save My Life]

 

There was no reason for her to go to Deacon's house to talk to him about telling Maddie about the proposal except that she wanted to see him and scold him in person. (And don't think the hypocrisy of the woman who is marrying a guy she's been dating all of six months while ignoring her kids saying "It's our job to make this easier on Maddie" is lost on me.) Rayna is the one who's manipulating things here.

I disagree. There was every reason for her to talk to Deacon. For him to have told Maddie that he proposed and Rayna turned him down? Really? He thought that was good parenting? "It's not my fault, it's all your mother's fault. You could have the pretty princess life you deserve if only your mother weren't so wrong." That's basically what he was saying. He was throwing Rayna under the bus in order to make sure that Maddie wasn't angry with him. And this is not the first time that Deacon has told Maddie something meant only for the adults to know.

 

And though Rayna will not see her kids as much while she's on tour, the same is true of Deacon. Is he ignoring Maddie by working? It has always been clear that Rayna is a very involved parent when she's home with the kids. Yes, her job takes her out of town, but when she's been home, she has been there.

 

I think Rayna makes mistakes, and in fact her behavior with Luke is a reboot of what she did with Teddy way back when. She is choosing what she considers the "safe" partner (though we all have our suspicions), rather then continuing in her roller coaster relationship with Deacon. Is Deacon her one true love? Probably. But is she required to be with him? No. Not because of his feelings, not because of Maddie's desires. Deacon loving her does not make her evil for choosing Luke.

 

I love the show, but think all the characters can be equally frustrating. Will hiding the fact that he's gay and having his personal choices driving him to the brink of imploding? We've seen that multiple times. Deacon is unhappy and takes a drink. Juliette gets hurt and acts out, in totally self-destructive ways. And doing the exact same thing is Avery. Gunnar is in love with this girl but making doe-eyes at another. Scarlet is just generally glum and Maddie is a brat. If the writers are consistent about anything it's in how repetitively they write each of these characters. 

[S07.E01: Driven]

This feels to me like they want another deep, mysterious plot to fall back on every few episodes, like they did with Kate's mom's murder. A bad development as far as I'm concerned. Hate the 'Red John' type storytelling.

And I agree that the change from Castle did it, to he didn't was way too abrupt. They played some of the beats of Kate's feeling betrayed, but what about Castle feeling angry that Kate had lost trust? Rationally he'd get why she would, but emotionally there'd be some anger and hurt at not being believed, regardless.

["The View": Week of 9/15/14]

I enjoyed it. Yes it's going to take a bit for them to really gel, but I found myself smiling more then once. And I too liked that feeling that these were four intelligent women talking about topics with some degree of knowledge of those topics (even Whoopi seemed marginally informed).

 

My favorite part was actually Nicole Wallace's behind-the-scenes stuff and what it was like to get the call about Cheney shooting someone. I don't care if you're democratic or republican, to have that job and hear that the VP has shot someone? Must have been one of the most surreal moments of her life. I didn't think she bashed Palin, though she could have given the questions Rosie P asked her. She said she started out on okay footing with her and then it all tanked when the Couric interview happened. Yes she smiled and laughed along with some of the other commentary (George Bush doing a flyover), but I thought that was more in the nature of her still feeling her way.

 

I was so happy to see Rosie O back on the screen, so most anything would have worked, but all in all a solid start (with a few clunky moments). And I loved Rosie's glasses.

 

[Finding Carter vs. Other Found After Kidnapping Stories]

I only read the first couple Janie books and it was a long time ago, but I watch the movie with Kellie Martin when I'm flipping around the dial and find it on tv. One question I've always wondered about the movie.

 

In the movie she was taken by a young woman who was very troubled and ended up being raised by that young woman's parents who think she is their granddaughter. She finds out who she is, spends time with her birth family (with far more grace then Carter is showing so far) and then is allowed to return to her "parents" because of how unhappy she is living in her birth family's home. Her biological mother (played by Sipowicz's wife, can't remember actress's name) brings her back to her adoptive (for lack of a better word) parents. And just as she's handing over Janie's suitcase she notices the "mother's" bracelet. She stares at it intently for a moment and it sure seems like it means something to her. But the movie ends and it's never explained.

 

So I've always tried to figure it out. Did she have a memory of the kidnapping and remember seeing the bracelet? Did the adoptive mom have more to do with Janie's disappearance then she's let on? Is there anything in the books about this?

[S01.E01: Pilot (E01)/The Birds (E02)]

 

Why would any teenager stop and think about things from a parent's perspective, when they don't HAVE a parent's perspective?

 

It's not a matter of having a parent's perspective, it's a matter of having empathy for another human being, any human being. I totally get Carter's anger and fear and teenage angst and any other horrible thing a child who's life has just been torn apart would feel. But in order for me to empathize with her, I need her to have a moment here and there of empathy for these other people who have been just as affected by the upheaval. Not all the time. Not deep introspection that completely turns her around. Just a thought here and there about what her reappearance is doing to the other people in this mess.

 

In fact she worked best for me when she'd have a moment or two with Taylor talking about Taylor's version of what the past thirteen years ago. And though Grant is a bit too precocious, I also liked her moments with him. Though I was annoyed that she insist he call his own mother Elizabeth. If she doesn't want to call her mom, fine, but don't try to distance him from his own parent. The problem is that these moments were overpowered by all the other hateful behavior. 

 

Even after she wakes from her drug overdose, she remains unmoved. Again, I get it, she's a self-centered teen, but she's just woken from a several day coma, days where her family sat by her side, and nothing.

[S01.E01: Pilot (E01)/The Birds (E02)]

 

I think Gabe is a self-centered dick who is getting less and less liable.  Carter and he had some chemistry at first, but his unwillingness to acknowledge what his crush is doing to his alleged long time friend as well as not accept Carter's rejection (regardless of her reasons) is very unattractive and verging on annoying.

 

I agree and was going to post almost the same thing. After I thought about it I realized that he was even worse then I'd initially thought. He grew up with Taylor, so not only is it shitty of him to be so casual with the idea that she might like him and it might hurt her if Carter dated him, but he also had to have been there in a front row seat for the anguish the family went through for the last thirteen years. He has to have grown up knowing Elizabeth pretty well. She's his dad's police partner and presumably the families have spent a lot of time together. Yet it was his idea to set up Elizabeth with the fake texts and the mall prank. And he had not one moment where he paused and thought hey, maybe this is cruel. It was Max and the girl whose parents are rich who felt bad about the way it affected Elizabeth. Not Gabe.

 

And thanks gpgurl50 for correcting my Gabe/Grant mixup. I'd called him Gabe earlier then saw Grant mentioned and thought I'd got my G-names mixed up.

 

 

[S01.E01: Pilot (E01)/The Birds (E02)]

I think you make fair points @Aliasscape and I get that Carter is having her life torn apart, but her one-note response to everything, while in the realm of believable, is making her just plain unlikable.

And I have to say I'm not liking Grant. His insistence on being in her face, even when she tells him to back off makes me actively dislike him.

I think the writing and character development is the problem. It's pretty trite in a lot of ways. And the final scene where the dad plays the tape from therapy? Really? Of course the cold bitch mother is having an affair, and of course the guy is Grant's dad!

[S01.E01: Pilot (E01)/The Birds (E02)]

I agree with you that it was ridiculous that her parents could just take her home on the spot, but okay for time purposes I'll go with it. And for the first hour I was willing to give Carter a pass because her world was ripped apart. But by end of ep 2, I'm pretty done with her. Max points out how hurt Elizabeth looks in the video, and she doesn't get it. Her new rich girl friend suggests that finding ways to torment Elizabeth might not be the best use of her time, a shrug. Kissing Grant in front of Taylor with an oops?

I think I could accept all this dick-ish behavior if she had a smidgen of the same anger for her 'mom'. It's totally realistic that she still loves her and wants her life back, but those feelings should be accompanied by some anger about the false life she was living and the fact that her 'mom' just took off and left her to deal with the fallout.

If I saw some of this, I could relate to her a little better. As it is, she's coming across as a bit of a narcissistic sociopath.

[Banshee - General Discussion]

Since we're not supposed to discuss the show in the 'small talk' thread, I thought I'd start a new thread for show discussion. Read that they're getting ready to start filming season three and I'll be curious to see where they go. Rabbit is gone at last, but NLH still has Kai to deal with and it looks like Chayton will be back.

I do wonder if we'll get a new deputy since Emmett is gone. Otherwise there's just NLH as sheriff with Siobhan and Brock. Even though Banshee isn't huge, it's big enough that it needs more then three police officers. So I could see them bringing in someone new there.